29th Apr 2019 08:48
LONDON (Alliance News) - Stock prices in London opened marginally higher on Monday, failing to build on the positive momentum which saw US equity markets set fresh records on Friday.A big week ahead of central bank decisions, economic data, and earnings reports may be keeping investors cautious.Ad firm WPP led blue-chip gainers following a broker upgrade. Ferrexpo shone among mid-caps as the miner sought to reassure investors after its auditor walked out on it.The FTSE 100 was up 2.06 points at 7,430.25. The FTSE 250 was up 54.34 points, or 0.2% at 19,911.41. The AIM All-Share was down 0.1% at 968.33.The Cboe UK 100 index was flat at 12,598.25. The Cboe UK 250 was up 0.1% at 17,805.73, and the Cboe UK Small Companies was flat at 11,603.80.In European equities, the CAC 40 in Paris and the DAX 30 in Frankfurt were both flat. "European markets are trading mixed today. Investors are hesitating to build on the momentum where they left off on Friday due to the record highs on Wall Street," said ThinkMarkets analyst Naeem Aslam. In the US on Friday, Wall Street ended higher, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.3%, S&P 500 up 0.5% and Nasdaq Composite up 0.3%. The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 ended the session at new record closing highs of 8,146.39 and 2,939.88 points, respectively.In China, the Shanghai Composite closed down 0.8%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong is up 0.8%. Financial markets in Japan will be closed through to and including next Monday, as the country celebrates Golden Week.On the London Stock Exchange, WPP was the best FTSE 100 performer at the open, up 1.5% after Barclays raised the advertising firm to Overweight from Equal Weight. WPP on Friday said is making good progress, despite a sluggish performance in North America.Towards the other end of the large-cap index, Auto Trader was down 0.9%. The online vehicle marketplace said Chief Executive Trevor Mather will retire in March 2020, and it has promoted Chief Financial Officer & Chief Operating Officer Nathan Coe to CEO-designate with effect from May 1. The company said operations head Catherine Faiers will become COO.In the FTSE 250, Ferrexpo was the standout performer, up 10% after the iron pellet producer attempted to reassure investors. Ferrexpo said it was disappointed by the resignation of Deloitte as auditor last week and said it is committed to the "highest level of governance and transparency". The stock is down 33% over the past week. The company clashed with Deloitte over its chief executive's possible involvement with Blooming Land, a charity in Ukraine that has been financial backed by the miner and which now is being examined for missing payments. Ferrexpo emphasised that Blooming Land is not a related party to the company or to CEO Kostyantin Zhevago. In attempt to reassure shareholders after its share price slump, Ferrexpo said it continues to trade strongly and that realised prices for iron pellets remain high. The company said it has started the process to find a new auditor and independent directors, following the resignations of two non-executives last week. At the other end of the midcap index, HomeServe was down 2.2% after HSBC downgraded the home emergency repair services provider to Reduce from Hold. The pound was quoted at USD1.2932 Monday, flat with USD1.2929 at the London equities close Friday.Talks between the UK government and Labour aimed at breaking the Brexit deadlock will continue on Monday with both parties facing internal pressures ahead of European elections.Tories fear the May 23 poll could result in an electoral mauling for UK Prime Minister Theresa May if she has not been able to deliver the Brexit that Britons voted for almost three years ago.The contest is forcing Labour to clarify its position on a second referendum, with Jeremy Corbyn and the party's National Executive Committee under pressure from MPs and MEPs to back a vote on any Brexit deal.Senior Tories have said they still hope the elections - and the threat posed by Nigel Farage's Brexit Party - can be avoided if a compromise deal can get through Parliament before polling day, allowing the contest to be cancelled.However, Labour has played down the prospects of a breakthrough in the cross-party talks, accusing May of refusing to change her Brexit red lines."The PM will be desperate to try to get a Brexit deal through Parliament to try to avoid the ignominy of those European elections. And so - while unlikely given the current impasse between the government and Labour leadership in their negotiations - there remains the possibility that she might yet submit her Withdrawal Agreement Bill - the national legislation required to implement Brexit - to Parliament this week in an attempt to make progress," said analysts at Daiwa Capital Markets. The economic events calendar on Monday has eurozone consumer confidence at 1000 BST and Ireland retail sales at 1100 BST. In the afternoon there is the US personal consumption expenditures price index at 1330 BST. The core reading of this is the US Federal Reserve's preferred gauge of inflation. The Fed starts its two-day interest-rate setting meeting on Tuesday, with a decision announced on Wednesday.The Bank of England also announces a rate decision this week, on Thursday.In the US earnings calendar, Google parent Alphabet will report earnings after the market close in New York on Monday.
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