3rd Mar 2025 08:53
(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London opened higher on Monday, ahead of the UK manufacturing PMI and following like releases from other regions.
The FTSE 100 index opened up 34.18 points, 0.4%, at 8,843.92. The FTSE 250 was up 56.11 points, 0.3%, at 20,382.49, and the AIM All-Share was up 1.54 points, 0.2%, at 705.37.
The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.5% at 886.40, the Cboe UK 250 was up 0.2% at 17,682.30, and the Cboe Small Companies was down slightly at 15,529.60.
GSK was among the FTSE 100 winners, up 0.6%.
The pharmaceutical firm said phase 2 trials of depemokimab showed meaningful benefit for patients with chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps. Other trials showed depemokimab reducing exacerbation and hospitalisation rates as an add-on therapy for patients with asthma with type 2 inflammation.
GSK said its applications have been accepted for review by the US FDA for both indications.
Bunzl was the worst performer, down 5.1%.
The distribution services company increased its 2024 total dividend by 8.2% to 73.9 pence, including a final dividend of 53.8p per share, from 68.3p the year before.
However, revenue edged down 0.2% to GBP11.78 billion and pretax profit decreased 3.6% to GBP673.6 million, although adjusted pretax profit rose 2.2% to GBP872.9 million.
On the FTSE 250, Hunting was 4.8% higher.
The precision engineering firm announced the completion of the sale of its 23% equity investment in Rival Downhole Tools "to a third party" for USD13.1 million.
Hunting will recieve USD12.0 million in cash, with USD1.1 million put in escrow and expected to remain there for 12 months.
Senior was among the laggers, down 4.3%.
The engineering company said it delivered 2024 results in line with revised expectations. Revenue rose 1% on-year to GBP977.1 million while pretax profit jumped 22% to GBP27.8 million, with a total dividend of 2.40p per share including a final payout of 1.65p, up 4% from 2.30p the year before.
Senior also expects "good growth...in line with its expectations" for 2025.
On AIM, Helium One jumped 24%.
The Tanzania-focused helium explorer has received an offer of a mining licence for the Southern Rukwa project in Tanzania, and said it was pleased with the successful start of drilling at Jackson-31 in Colorado.
In UK political news, Prime Minister Keir Starmer is expected to return to the Commons on Monday for the first time since his blitz of high-stakes diplomatic action across the Atlantic and in London.
MPs will likely hear a statement from the prime minister following his meeting with Donald Trump in Washington DC, as well as the emergency defence summit of European leaders he convened at the weekend.
Starmer told European powers they must realise it is "time to act", and warned they stand at a "crossroads in history", following the Sunday gathering. He committed GBP1.6 billion towards helping Ukraine purchase 5,000 missiles for its defence and invited European leaders to join a "coalition of the willing" led by Britain and France, which is aimed at enforcing any future peace deal.
In European equities on Monday, the CAC 40 in Paris was up 0.1%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt was up 0.54 points.
"The geopolitical developments are perceived with optimism among investors on hope that the clash with the US will finally awaken the sleeping European economies, shift focus from financial control to more spending without asking too many questions on whether the extra spending is justified – because it is," said Swissquote's Ipek Ozkardeskaya. "In the past, war and military spending have accelerated technology advances and served to the broader economy.
"On the trade front, the next step in Trump's tariff threats is the actual implementation, with levies set to increase. The latter will certainly have a negative impact on growth prospects and call for a decent support from the European Central Bank (ECB) to the underlying economies."
She continued: "The CPI updates for February released last week pointed at a mixed picture across the major eurozone countries. But the aggregate CPI update due this morning is expected to print a softening headline and core inflation in February. If that's the case, the impact on the euro is not certain.
"In one hand, soft inflation numbers back the expectation of a more dovish ECB stance and could weigh on the euro, but on the other hand, the geopolitical tensions boost growth prospects and the idea that monetary and fiscal support would lead to a stronger growth across Europe – and that's positive for the euro outlook."
Manufacturing conditions in Ireland continued to improve in February, with the AIB Ireland manufacturing purchasing managers' index rose to 51.9 in February, up from 51.3 in January.
"This marks the fastest pace of growth in 12 months," said AIB's David McNamara. "The rise in February was due to stronger growth in output and new orders, and a renewed upturn in purchasing activity."
The pound was quoted higher at USD1.2602 early on Monday in London, compared to USD1.2588 at the equities close on Friday. The euro stood slightly lower at USD1.0403, against USD1.0406. Against the yen, the dollar was trading lower at JPY150.14 compared to JPY150.38.
In Asia on Monday, the Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo was up 1.7%. In China, the Shanghai Composite was down 0.1%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was up 0.3%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney closed up 0.9%.
China's manufacturing sector expanded at a greater rate in February driven by higher output and new orders, S&P Global reported, with the Caixin China general manufacturing purchasing managers' index rising to 50.8 in February from 50.1 in January and surpassing the FXStreet-cited consensus forecast of 50.3.
Meanwhile, Japan's manufacturing sector saw a softer deterioration in February, data showed.
The au Jibun Bank Japan manufacturing purchasing managers' index posted 49.0 in February, up from 48.7 in January, surpassing the FXStreet-cited consensus forecast of 48.9.
In the US on Friday, Wall Street ended higher, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 1.4%, the S&P 500 up 1.6% and the Nasdaq Composite up 1.6%.
"Anyway, this week, the market will focus on January employment numbers," said Ozkardeskaya. "A consensus of analyst expectations on the latest Bloomberg survey suggests that the US economy may have added 156K nonfarm jobs in January and slightly slower wages growth. Investors will also be looking at the impact of mass firings at the federal government offices in the coming months.
"Soft data is good for boosting Fed doves, pushing the yields lower and improving sentiment in risk assets, but if inflation doesn't allow, the 'bad news is good news' trade could be limited."
Brent oil was quoted higher at USD72.99 a barrel early in London on Monday from USD72.62 late Friday.
Gold was quoted higher at USD2,863.18 an ounce against USD2,848.92 late Friday.
Still to come on Monday's economic calendar, UK manufacturing PMI is out at 0930 GMT, followed by the US reading in the afternoon.
By Emma Curzon, Alliance News reporter
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