2nd Dec 2019 08:44
(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London opened mostly higher on Monday after encouraging Chinese manufacturing data, while shares in Fresnillo fell after the miner said 2019 production will be at the bottom of its previously guided range.
The FTSE 100 was 33.15 points higher, or 0.5%, at 7,379.68. The FTSE 250 up 20.94 points, or 0.1% at 20,833.54, but the AIM All-Share was down 3.40 points at 919.08.
The Cboe UK 100 index was up 0.1% at 12,494.93. The Cboe UK 250 was flat at 18,731.45, and the Cboe UK Small Companies was flat at 11,444.77.
In European equities, the CAC 40 index in Paris and the DAX 30 in Frankfurt were both up 0.3% in early trade.
On the London Stock Exchange, Rio Tinto was the best-blue chip performer, up 1.9% after RBC Capital raised the Anglo-Australian miner to Sector Perform from Underperform.
Glencore was up 1.4% after RBC raised the commodities house to Outperform from Sector Perform.
At the other end of the large-cap index, Ocado Group was the worst performer, down 4.0%, having ended up 9.7% on Friday after the online grocer signed a deal to develop the Japanese grocer Aeon's online business.
Ocado on Monday gave an update on Ocado Retail, its UK operations that it is combining into a joint venture with retailer Marks & Spencer. Ocado said it expects sales to be up by 10% to 11% in the 13 weeks to December 1.
Fresnillo shares were down 1.9% after the Mexican gold miner set its 2019 production guidance at the bottom of its previous range.
The miner said it expects to produce 885,000 ounces of gold and 55 million ounces of silver. In October, Fresnillo had guided for 880,000 to 910,000 ounces of gold for 2019, and for between 55 million and 58 million ounces of silver. However, it had said at the time that it expected 2019 production to be towards the lower end of each range.
Fresnillo said the decrease in gold production guidance was driven by the planned Noche Buena mine closure and lower production from the Herradura site. Additionally, Fresnillo expects 2019 capital expenditure to be around USD585 million.
Gold was quoted at USD1,455.70 an ounce on Monday, down from USD1,463.01 at the London equities close Friday.
Land Securities was down 1.4% after JPMorgan downgraded the property company to Neutral from Overweight.
The Japanese Nikkei 225 index closed up 1.0%. In China, the Shanghai Composite ended up 0.1%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong closed up 0.3%.
Chinese manufacturing data for November showed a modest improvement from October, latest figures from Caixin showed.
The Caixin China general manufacturing purchasing managers' index rose to 51.8 in November from 51.7 in October, the fourth successive month of improvement. Any reading above 50 indicates expansion, while one below signals contraction.
It was also the strongest pace of improvement since December 2016, Caixin added.
Closer to the UK, the first workforce decline in more than three years drove yet another decline in Irish manufacturing conditions in November, AIB Ireland's latest data showed.
The seasonally-adjusted purchasing managers' index sunk to 49.7 in November, lagging behind 50.7 in October, and below the 50.0 marker which separates expansion from contraction.
It was the fifth time in the last six months that Irish manufacturing conditions have worsened, AIB added. It was also the first time workforce numbers reduced since September 2016, with staffing numbers falling in line with weaker customer demand.
Still in the economic events calendar on Monday are manufacturing PMI data from Germany at 0855 GMT, the eurozone at 0900 GMT, the UK at 0930 GMT and the US at 1445 GMT.
The pound was quoted at USD1.2919 Monday morning, lower than USD1.2929 at the London equities close Friday.
Against the yen, the dollar was trading at USD109.63 on Monday, firm against JPY109.47 late Friday. The euro was quoted at USD1.1020 Monday morning, flat from USD1.1017 late Friday.
Brent oil was quoted at USD61.20 early Monday, flat against USD61.18 a barrel at the London equities close Friday.
Ahead this week, the 177th biannual OPEC meeting takes place in Vienna, Austria, on Thursday. OPEC will decide on production policy for the first six months of 2020 at the meeting.
Iraq said on Sunday that OPEC and other major producers would consider slashing output by 400,000 barrels a day to support prices when they meet in Vienna this week. The news helped mitigate some of the losses suffered on Friday after reports said Russia was looking to delay any further output reductions until April's gathering.
By Arvind Bhunjun; [email protected]
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