28th Aug 2018 17:04
LONDON (Alliance News) - Stock prices in London closed higher on Tuesday as the UK market catches up with peers following Monday's holiday, as AB Foods slid in the large cap index following a major fire at a Belfast Primark store. The FTSE 100 index closed 0.6% higher, or 48.79 points, at 7,626.28 on Tuesday.The FTSE 250 ended up 0.8%, or 174.40 points, at 20,865.81, and the AIM All-Share closed up 1.0%, or 10.41 points, at 1,102.63.The Cboe UK 100 ended 0.6% higher at 12,927.77, the Cboe UK 250 closed 0.7% higher at 18,930.5, and the Cboe UK Small Companies finished 0.2% up at 12,361.76."Stocks enjoyed a boost as the positive sentiment in the US rubbed off on Europe. Investors are still in an upbeat mood post the US-Mexico trade deal," said CMC Markets UK's David Madden. "The London market was shut yesterday on account of the bank holiday, but it made up for lost ground today, as dealers snapped up mining, banking and consumer stocks."Stocks in New York were higher at the London equities close Tuesday. The DJIA was up 0.1%, the S&P 500 index marginally higher, and the Nasdaq Composite was up 0.1%.The US and Mexico have reached a preliminary agreement on trade, US President Donald Trump said Monday, indicating he could conclude a final deal without Canada.Trump said he was looking to "terminate" the North American Free Trade Agreement, a 24-year-old North America free trade pact between the three nations that he has long derided and now said has "bad connotations". He dubbed his new breakthrough the "US-Mexico Trade Agreement," saying "it's a really good deal for both countries".Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto was on speakerphone as Trump made the announcement in the Oval Office and said he hoped Canada will eventually be incorporated into the deal.Canada's Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland is due to arrive in the US for trade talks on Tuesday, broadcaster CBC reported.Google's internet search engine is unbiased, the internet giant said, after Trump complained about the results of news searches about him."When users type queries into the Google Search bar, our goal is to make sure they receive the most relevant answers in a matter of seconds," Google said in a statement. "Search is not used to set a political agenda and we don't bias our results toward any political ideology."Google is part of Alphabet, whose shares were 0.1% lower on the Nasdaq at the London close on Tuesday. In other US news, a report released by the Conference Board on Tuesday showed an unexpected improvement in US consumer confidence in the month of August.The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index surged to 133.4 in August from an upwardly revised 127.9 in July. Economists had expected the index to dip to 126.8 from the 127.4 originally reported for the previous month.With the unexpected increase, the consumer confidence index reached its highest level since hitting 135.8 in October of 2000."Overall, these historically high confidence levels should continue to support healthy consumer spending in the near-term," said Lynn Franco, Director of Economic Indicators at the Conference Board.Sterling was higher against the dollar, quoted at USD1.2891 at the market close Tuesday, against USD1.2852 at the London equities close on Friday. "Sterling continued to struggle in the face of the threat of a 'no deal' Brexit, with Theresa May's claim it 'wouldn't be the end of the world' doing nothing to help the currency out," said Spreadex's Connor Campbell."Against the dollar it slipped around 0.1%, keeping it the wrong side of USD1.289, while against the euro it ended up shedding 0.3%, dragging it under EUR1.101 for the first time since September 2017."Campbell added: "The talk of Britain leaving the EU without an agreement has become louder and louder in the last couple of weeks, with the PM doing little to calm the market's fears on this front."UK Prime Minister Theresa May dismissed fears of a no-deal Brexit apocalypse as she played down the Chancellor Philip Hammond's warnings of major economic consequences.May repeated claims no agreement with the EU "would not be a walk in the park" but "wouldn't be the end of the world", initially made by the World Trade Organisation's Roberto Azevedo.May also outlined Britain's first post-Brexit trade pact as she also committed the UK to providing an extra GBP4 billion of investment in African economies.The prime minister said the government intends to carry over the EU's economic partnership agreement with Mozambique and the Southern African Customs Union (SACU), which consists of South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and Swaziland.May's pledge came during a keynote speech in Cape Town on how the UK plans to use its aid budget in the "national interest", encourage private firms to invest on the continent and help offer security and jobs to stabilise African economies.She said an additional GBP4 billion of UK investment aimed to "pave the way" for at least another GBP4 billion from private sector financing, as part of the government's ambition to overhaul the US as the G7's top investor in Africa.The UK Treasury has denied it has asked Bank of England Governor Mark Carney to stay on for another year, the Financial Times said Tuesday.The London Evening Standard had reported earlier Tuesday Carney has been approached to stay until the summer of 2020, but the FT said the Treasury has denied such a move.The government is still planning to begin advertising for a replacement, "in the next month or two", the newspaper said."Optimism caused from initial rumours of an extension to Mark Carney's tenure as the BoE governor have faltered after the Treasury denied seeking such a move," said IG's Joshua O'Mahony."While there has been criticism over the forward guidance from Carney through the years, markets prefer to see a greater degree of stability throughout the Brexit process."O'Mahony added: "The possibility of continuity in the current approach to monetary policy would certainly be a positive, with far too much uncertainty already evident throughout this Brexit process."Turning to the London Stock Exchange, FTSE 100-listed NMC Health closed 3.5% higher as the United Arab Emirates-focused healthcare provider denied news reports it is looking to acquire assets in India.NMC said it "reaffirms its current focus" on the Gulf Cooperation Council markets for capital deployment. The Gulf Cooperation Council includes Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.NMC Health said its fertility and oral & maxillofacial businesses "remain the only exceptions" and still "maintain a wider geographic focus"."Big strategic moves can generate headlines and market excitement but often it is best for a company's management to stick to the knitting, focusing on what they are good at rather than operating outside of their realm of expertise," noted AJ Bell's Russ Mould.AB Foods, the owner of the Primark clothing chain, closed 3.1% lower after a major blaze destroyed a Primark store in a historic building in Belfast. Flames and thick black smoke have engulfed the entire five-storey Bank Buildings. The building, which has been in the heart of Belfast since 1787, had recently undergone a multimillion-pound refurbishment.Miners were also leading the charge in the FTSE 100. Anglo American finished up 3.6%, BHP Billiton ended up 2.8%, Glencore up 2.4%, and Russian steelmaker Evraz up 4.8%.In the FTSE 250, TI Fluid Systems closed 2.6% higher as JPMorgan raised its stock rating to Overweight from Neutral. Gold was up quoted at USD1,208.10 an ounce at the Tuesday market close in London from USD1,207.80 at the close Friday.The UK corporate calendar on Wednesday has interim results from semiconductor firm IQE Group, Gym Group, resources firm Petrofac, as well as a trading statement from technical products and services firm Diploma. The euro was up against the greenback quoted at USD1.1718 at the close, from USD1.1624 at the European equities close Friday.In Paris at the London market close, the CAC 40 was up 0.1%, while the DAX 30 in Frankfurt was down 0.1%. Brent oil was quoted at USD76.30 a barrel at the close Tuesday from USD76.16 a barrel late Friday.The economic calendar on Wednesday has US weekly mortgage applications at 1200 BST and a second US GDP estimate at 1330 BST. Elsewhere, there is a German consumer confidence survey at 0700 BST and the same from Japan at 0600 BST.Related Shares:
Anglo AmericanBHP Billiton PLCNMC.LEvrazTI Fluid SystemsGlencoreAB Foods