28th Oct 2019 16:57
(Alliance News) - The FTSE 100 lagged just behind peers on Monday thanks to a dip in HSBC's share price following a disappointing quarter, while the pound firmed ahead of what is likely to be another evening of drama in Westminster.
The FTSE 100 index closed up 6.81 points, or 0.1%, at 7,331.28. The FTSE 250 ended up 106.65 points, or 0.5%, at 20,210.16, and the AIM All-Share closed up 1.46 points, or 0.2%, at 892.38.
The Cboe UK 100 ended up 0.3% at 12,442.87, the Cboe UK 250 closed up 0.6% at 18,144.23, and the Cboe Small Companies ended up 0.2% at 11,258.70.
In European equities on Monday, the CAC 40 in Paris ended up 0.3%, while the DAX 30 in Frankfurt ended 0.5% higher.
Stocks in New York were in the green at the London equities close, with the Dow Jones up 0.4%, the S&P 500 index up 0.6%, and the Nasdaq Composite a sharp 1.0% higher.
"Though it missed out on the record highs seen by the S&P 500, the Dow Jones nevertheless pushed higher on Monday as Donald Trump stoked the market's trade hopes...The strength of the US open helped the European indices expand their own gains," said Connor Campbell at Spreadex.
"As is so often the case, the FTSE was on the outside of this party looking in," he added, citing HSBC's share price fall the pound's "post-Brexit extension announcement gains".
The pound was quoted at USD1.2861 at the London equities close Monday, higher compared to USD1.2831 at the close on Friday.
Boris Johnson has signalled he will push on with plans for a general election after his pledge to take Britain out of the EU by the end of this month was left in tatters.
The prime minister will introduce legislation for a poll on December 9 if his bid for an election three days later fails on Monday night, as is widely expected, a Number 10 source said.
Johnson's election bid on Monday, to be made under the Fixed-Term Parliaments Act, would require a two-thirds Commons majority – 434 MPs – to agree to an election on December 12. But the Liberal Democrats and SNP have put forward a tightly-drafted Bill that would grant an election on December 9.
Earlier on Monday, Brussels accepted the UK's request for a so-called "flextension" until January 31 – enabling Britain to leave the bloc sooner if the Withdrawal Agreement Bill becomes law.
The euro stood at USD1.1095 at the European equities close Monday, firm against USD1.1081 at the same time on Friday.
Against the yen, the dollar was trading at JPY108.99, higher compared to JPY108.56 late Friday.
In commodities, Brent oil was quoted at USD61.26 a barrel at the London equities close Monday from USD61.69 late Friday.
Gold was quoted at USD1,490.38 an ounce at the London equities close Monday against USD1,508.50 at the close on Friday.
"Gold has been pushed back below the USD1,500 mark as traders are in risk-on mode. The metal usually outperforms when stocks tumbles as the asset is deemed to be lower-risk, and the opposite is true when stocks are powering ahead. If the metal holds below the USD1,500 mark, it might retest the USD1,480 area," said David Madden at CMC Markets.
Miners had a good session on Monday on positive developments in the US-China trade situation, leading Antofagasta to gain 4.0%, Glencore 2.2% and Anglo American 1.3%.
Over the weekend, the US Trade Representative's office said Washington and Beijing are making "headway" on key issues in their ongoing trade dispute.
US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin spoke with China's Vice Premier Liu He Friday on "Phase One of the US-China trade agreement," the USTR announced. The Chinese Commerce Ministry said Saturday both sides agreed to "properly address each other's core concerns."
Both sides have said discussions will go on continuously at the deputy level and the top trade officials will have another call "in the near future".
Gains for blue-chip miners helped to offset a slide for HSBC after the Asia-focused lender posted a mixed third quarter.
For the three months ended September, pretax profit narrowed 18% to USD4.84 billion from USD5.92 billion the year prior. This was after operating income fell 3.2% to USD13.36 billion from USD13.80 billion the year before.
"Parts of our business, especially Asia, held up well in a challenging environment in the third quarter," HSBC Chief Executive Officer Noel Quinn said. "However, in some parts, performance was not acceptable, principally business activities within continental Europe, the non-ring-fenced bank in the UK, and the US."
In August, Quinn took the helm of HSBC after former CEO John Flint left the role after only a year and a half.
Shares in HSBC closed down 3.7%.
Burberry shares closed 1.4% higher on M&A activity in the luxury goods sector.
LVMH Moet Hennessey Louis Vuitton confirmed it is in preliminary talks over a possible takeover offer for jewellery firm Tiffany & Co.
"In light of recent market rumours, the LVMH group confirms that it has held preliminary discussions regarding a possible transaction with Tiffany," the statement read. "There can be no assurance that these discussions will result in any agreement."
French luxury brand owner LVMH was responding to a number of press stories over the weekend, including that LVMH was considering offering USD120 per share for Tiffany, a deal that would value the firm at USD14.5 billion.
Tiffany shares were trading 32% higher at USD129.68 in New York on Monday. LVMH shares closed down 0.3% in Paris.
Back in London, FTSE 250 constituent Cairn Energy closed down 8.3% after plugging and abandoning the first well in its Mexican offshore drilling programme.
Alom-1 in Block-9 had the objective of proving hydrocarbons in stacked Pleistocene targets. The well was drilled to a vertical depth of 2.06 kilometres below the sea surface. However the objectives were discovered to be dry.
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings shares slid 7.3% after Bank of American cut the luxury car maker to Underperform from Neutral.
The corporate calendar on Tuesday has third quarter results from oil major BP, as well as bottler Coca-Cola European Partners, contracts-for-difference provider Plus500 and oilfield services provider Hunting.
In the economic calendar on Tuesday, there is Irish consumer confidence at 0001 GMT, UK Nationwide house prices at 0700 GMT followed by mortgage approvals at 0930 GMT, Irish retail sales at 1100 GMT and US consumer confidence at 1400 GMT.
By Lucy Heming; [email protected]
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