19th Jul 2019 08:39
(Alliance News) - Stocks opened up in the green in London on Friday, with investor sentiment worldwide boosted by doveish comments from US central bankers on Thursday.On the London Stock Exchange, Acacia Mining was the clear winner early on following its agreed takeover by parent Barrick Gold.The FTSE 100 index was 40.82 points higher, or 0.5%, at 7,533.91. The FTSE 250 was up 41.47 points, or 0.2%, at 19,576.60, and the AIM All-Share was 0.2% higher at 912.75.The Cboe UK 100 index was 0.7% higher at 12,787.29. The Cboe UK 250 was up 0.3% at 17,187.08, but the Cboe UK Small Companies was down 0.1% at 11,110.78.In mainland Europe, the CAC 40 index in Paris and DAX 30 in Frankfurt both were up 0.6%. On the London Stock Exchange, Acacia Mining shares surged 19%, to 220.40 pence, as the miner announced it has reached an agreement with Canadian parent Barrick Gold which will see Barrick take full control of Acacia.Barrick will pay 0.168 of new Barrick share for each Acacia share, implying a value of 232p per Acacia share. This is a 24% premium to Acacia's closing price of 187p on Thursday.This values the entirety of Acacia at GBP951 million. Barrick already owns 64% of the shares, and the value of the outstanding stake is GBP343 million.Barrick had previously proposed a 146p offer for Acacia, which the latter had rejected, so the new price is 59% higher.Commodity stocks were higher in general on Friday, with Antofagasta up 2.9%, Fresnillo 0.7%, steelmaker Evraz 1.9%, Anglo American 1.6%, Rio Tinto 1.4%, and BHP Group 1.3%.Gold miner Fresnillo was up despite UBS cutting its rating for the stock to Neutral from Buy.The UK Competition & Markets Authority has raised concerns over the USD585 million sale of DS Smith's rigid and flexible packaging business to Liqui-Box, announced in March. DS Smith shares were flat early on Friday. The CMA said the two companies are two of four major players in the sphere, and if a deal goes ahead, this could reduce competition, leading to higher prices for food and drink suppliers who are their customers.The watchdog said the two must come up with measures to address its concerns, otherwise the sale will be referred to an in-depth investigation.Broadcaster ITV was 1.5% higher, as it announced details of its "bold, new" streaming partnership with the BBC, called BritBox. BritBox will be priced at GBP5.99 per month, and will be "full of the nation's favourite programmes", and will also contain box sets. ITV will hold initially 90% of BritBox and the BBC the rest, though BBC will have options to increase its stake to up to 25%, and ITV will also be allowed to bring in new investors. Back in the FTSE 250, Aston Martin rose 2.7% as Strategic European Investment Group said it will take an additional 3% stake in the luxury car maker, by buying 6.8 million new shares at GBP10.00 each, for GBP68.4 million.Strategic European is an indirect subsidiary of Investindustrial VI, managed by Investindustrial Advisors, which also manages two shareholders which together own 31% of Aston Martin, so the new purchase would raise this to 34%.Food and beverage concessions owner SSP Group reported a "good" third quarter, with revenue rising 9.2%, and 2.0% like-for-like. Shares rose 1.2% in early trade.UK like-for-like sales met expectations, with air services doing better than rail, but Continental like-for-like sales have been held back by slower passenger growth in the Nordics as well as airport redevelopments both there and in Spain.Looking ahead, SSP said it expectations remain unchanged.Home repairs and improvement firm Homeserve rose 1.7% said trading for the period from the start of April to July 18 met expectations, and it continues to expect strong annual growth.Financial services firm Close Brothers was down 1.6% as it reported a "solid" performance in a mixed environment, with the loan book rising 5.1% year-on-year to GBP7.6 billion as of June 30.There were "good" net inflows in the Asset Management unit despite subdued client activity, with managed assets up 9% to GBP11.3 billion. The stockbroking unit Winterflood performed solidly in terms of profit, despite low volumes.In the US on Thursday, John Williams, the influential vice chairman of the Fed's policy-setting board, said in a speech that central banks should move quickly to support the economy when borrowing costs were already low.He pointed to studies suggesting when there are few stimulus options available, officials should "move more quickly than you otherwise might" rather than waiting "for disaster to unfold".While a spokesman later clarified Williams was not outlining Fed policy and was not flagging a half-point cut, analysts said the remarks provided an insight into how officials were thinking.Outside of the US, Iran's deputy foreign minister Abbas Araghchi denied on Friday having lost any drone recently and hinted the US could have downed their own "by mistake"."We have not lost any drone in the Strait of Hormuz nor anywhere else. I am worried USS Boxer has shot down their own UAS by mistake!" Araghchi tweeted, after the US claimed it downed an unmanned Iranian aircraft.Tensions in the Gulf region had mounted on Thursday after US President Donald Trump said an American naval vessel shot down an Iranian drone that threatened the ship as it was entering the Strait of Hormuz."Asian equity indices rebounded overnight, despite Trump saying the US downed an Iranian drone that was flying too close to an American warship," said analysts at Lloyds Bank."Doveish comments yesterday from Fed Vice Chair [Richard] Clarida and NY Fed President Williams suggest the question is more whether US interest rates will be reduced by 25 basis points or 50 basis points on July 31 rather than whether rates will be cut at all." The Japanese Nikkei 225 index closed 2.0% higher on Friday. In China, the Shanghai Composite ended up 0.8%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong is up 1.1% in late trade.In the US on Thursday, Wall Street ended in the green, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed marginally higher, the S&P 500 up 0.4%, and the Nasdaq Composite up 0.3%.The pound was quoted at USD1.2524 Friday, higher than USD1.2487 late Thursday.Boris Johnson has said the last three years under outgoing Prime Minister Theresa May will seem like a "bad dream" once he gets the UK out of the EU.The favourite in the Tory leadership race insisted he would stick to his commitment to deliver Brexit on October 31.Johnson used a Daily Express interview to again stress his commitment to leave the EU "come what may" on Halloween, with or without a deal.Still to come on Friday in the economic calendar are eurozone current account figures at 0900 BST.
Related Shares:
Rio TintoSmith (DS)Close BrosSSP GroupACA.LEvrazHSV.LAntofagastaFresnilloITVAston Martin LagondaBHP GroupAntofag.5%pr