4th Feb 2020 08:41
(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London opened sharply higher on Tuesday, with the FTSE 100 boosted by NMC Health, BP, Ferguson and Glencore as risk appetite returned to equity markets.
The internationally exposed FTSE 100 index was up 101.24 points, or 1.0%, at 7,427.55.
The more UK domestic-oriented FTSE 250 was up 211.65 points, also 1.0%, at 21,372.50, and the AIM All-Share was up 4.01 points, or 0.4% at 955.39.
The Cboe UK 100 index was up 0.9% at 12,543.20. The Cboe UK 250 was up 0.5% at 19,257.66, and the Cboe UK Small Companies was flat at 12,423.40.
In European equities, the CAC 40 in Paris was up 0.6% and the DAX 30 in Frankfurt up 0.7%.
On the London Stock Exchange, NMC Health was the best blue-chip performer, up 7.7%. The UAE-focused private healthcare firm said it knew of no specific reason for the hefty share price fall on Monday, when the stock closed down 20%.
Further, NMC said its operations continue to perform strongly, and it expects to report full-year results in-line with management's expectations. NMC noted that an independent review of its operations is currently being undertaken by Freeh Group in response to the scathing attack by Carson Block's short-selling firm Muddy Waters Capital late last year.
Ferguson was up 4.2% after the plumbing and heating products supplier launched a USD500 million share buyback to take place over next 12 months, citing its confidence in the business and strong cash generation.
In addition, Ferguson - which makes a bulk of its revenue in the US - said it is considering two options for its listing structure going forward: an additional listing in the US or a primary listing there.
Last year, Ferguson announced plans to demerge its UK business Wolseley from its Ferguson operations in the US. While Wolseley will be London-listed, the company's board believes the US is the "natural long-term listing location" for Ferguson, it said.
BP was up 3.0% after the oil major's preferred profit metrics beat analyst expectations, and it raised its dividend, despite reporting a drop in annual earnings
The company, which is London's third biggest by market capitalisation, upped its fourth quarter dividend by 2.4% year-on-year to 10.5 cents.
In the three months to December 31, underlying replacement cost profit was down 26% year-on-year to USD2.57 billion from USD3.48 billion. For 2019, it declined 21% to USD9.99 billion from USD12.72 billion.
According to company compiled consensus from 20 analysts, 2019 RC profit was predicted to come in at USD9.50 billion and for the fourth quarter alone at USD2.10 billion.
Glencore was up 2.8% despite the commodities house reporting a mixed performance in production for 2019, with higher output of zinc, cobalt and coal, but lower of copper, gold, silver and nickel.
Own-sourced copper production was down 6% to 1.37 million tonnes, partially due to the scaling down and placement into temporary care and maintenance of Mutanda in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as well as Mopani's extensive smelter refurbishment shutdown in Zambia.
However, due to a ramp-up at the Katanga mine in the Congo, cobalt output rose by 10% to 46,300 tonnes.
The Japanese Nikkei 225 index closed up 0.5%. In China, the Shanghai Composite ended up 1.2%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong closed up 1.2%.
"A recovery is starting to take hold. Equities are aiming for a second day of gains after a sharp sell-off last week over fears about the economic damage of the coronavirus. All Asian indices were in the green on Tuesday, including in China," said London Capital Group's Jasper Lawler.
Investor focus is on authorities' efforts to contain an outbreak that has now infected 20,000 and killed more in mainland China than the SARS epidemic, which hurt Asian economies in 2003.
The Shanghai Composite closed down 7.7% on Monday.
The pound was quoted at USD1.2951 Tuesday morning, down sharply from USD1.3008 at the London equities close on Monday.
The euro was quoted at USD1.1061 Tuesday, flat against USD1.1059 late Monday. Against the yen, the dollar was trading at JPY109.01, up from JPY108.63 late Monday.
Gold was quoted at USD1,570.30 early Tuesday, down from USD1,576.67 late Monday.
Oil was quoted at USD54.84 early Tuesday, marginally lower than USD54.90 late Monday.
In the economic events calendar on Tuesday, there is UK construction PMI at 0930 GMT and eurozone producer prices at 1000 GMT. In addition, US President Donald Trump delivers State of the Union address.
By Arvind Bhunjun; [email protected]
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