13th Feb 2017 08:37
LONDON (Alliance News) - Stocks in London were higher at the open on Monday, following positive trading in Asia and a record closing high in the US on Friday, with mining stocks leading large-cap gainers, while AB Foods was benefiting from a broker upgrade.
The FTSE 100 was up 0.1%, or 7.99 points, at 7,266.74. The FTSE 250 was up 0.1% at 18,737.83 and the AIM All-Share was up 0.2% at 901.96.
The BATS UK 100 was up 0.2% at 12,296.13, the BATS 250 index was up 0.1% at 17,729.62, and the BATS Small Companies was up 0.1% at 10,971.24.
The FTSE 350 Mining Sector index was 2.4% in the black, with Glencore up 2.0%, Anglo American up 1.8% and Antofagasta up 1.7%. FTSE 250-listed Evraz was up 3.1%. Copper prices have rallied strongly amid a strike in the world's biggest copper mine, Escondida. The mine in Chile is owned by BHP Billiton, whose shares were up 1.5% early Monday.
The industrial action started on Thursday, with the main union, which has 2,500 members, having warned that it could be lengthy, potentially affecting global supplies of a metal used in everything from construction to telecommunications, Reuters had reported last week.
On Monday, BHP said it will take legal action after a group of more than 300 people entered the mine site during the strike and forced some contractors to abandon the compound, Bloomberg reported.
AB Foods, which owns clothing retailer Primark as well as sugar, grocery and agriculture businesses, was another gainer, up 2.4%, after Morgan Stanley upgraded it to Overweight, according to traders.
In Europe, the French CAC 40 was up 0.5% and the German DAX 30 was up 0.3%.
Germany's wholesale prices increased the most in more than five years in January, figures from Destatis showed. Wholesale prices advanced 4% year-on-year in January, faster than the 2.8% rise in December. This was the fastest growth since October 2011, when prices gained 4.1%.
In Asia on Monday, the Japanese Nikkei 225 index closed up 0.4%. Meanwhile, the Shanghai Composite ended up 0.6%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong closed up 0.6%.
Japan's economy expanded at an annualized rate of 1.0% in the last quarter of 2016 due to an improvement in exports and corporate investment, the Japanese government said. This was in line with the 1.0% growth forecast by analysts surveyed by the Nikkei and represented the fourth straight quarter of expansion. The economy, however, slowed from 1.4% growth in the third quarter as consumer spending remained sluggish.
Also in the economic calendar on Monday, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries publishes its monthly oil market report.
In New York on Friday, the DJIA ended up 0.5% at 20,269.37, having touched a record high of 20,298.21 earlier in the day. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 rose 0.4% to 2,316.10, while the Nasdaq Composite ended up 0.3% at 5,734.12.
Share prices across the world were lifted on Friday after US President Donald Trump said he would announce a "phenomenal" plan to lower the tax burden on American business in the next few weeks.
Back in London, Old Mutual was up 1.2%. The Anglo-South African financial services group has received new bids for its USD900.0 million controlling stake in OM Asset Management, its US-listed asset management arm, the Financial Times reported.
Potential buyers of the group's remaining 51% stake in OMAM include private equity houses Advent and TPG and Chinese investor HNA, the FT said, citing four people briefed on the discussions.
Royal Bank of Scotland Group is preparing to cut more than GBP1 billion of annual operating costs by eliminating jobs and closing branches, according to reports citing people familiar with the matter. RBS shares were up 1.1%.
Reports said senior executives believe RBS has more staff than it requires and will cut more jobs. RBS will unveil fresh plans to meet profit targets alongside annual results on February 24. The Sunday Times said RBS needed to cut 15,000 jobs.
Meanwhile, the Co-operative Bank said it has resolved its contractual dispute with Capita, as the lender said it is putting itself up for sale. Both the Co-op Bank and Capita said they have resolved their contractual differences, with the outsourcer set to continue providing mortgage administration services to the lender. However, work on the overhaul of the Co-op's IT system will cease.
FTSE 100-listed Capita was down 0.4%.
By Daniel Ruiz; [email protected]
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