Last checked at * BP, Shell lead gains as supply cut hopes boost oil prices
* Miners rise; interest-rate sensitive banks, airlines
decline
* FTSE 100 up 1.1%, FTSE 250 falls 0.2%
(Adds stock close)
By Devik Jain and C Nivedita
March 2 (Reuters) - London-listed shares bounced back in
choppy Monday trade from their worst week since the global
financial crisis, as investors bet on further monetary stimulus
from central banks to limit the economic impact of the
coronavirus epidemic.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 closed up 1.1%, after falling
to its lowest level since 2016 on Friday, while the mid-cap
index ended a volatile day of trading 0.2% lower
London's main index was pushed higher by supermarket firms
Ocado , Sainsbury's and Morrisons after
Ocado advised customers to place orders further in advance
because of "exceptionally high demand", indicating a possible
reaction from shoppers to the spreading coronavirus outbreak.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the country needed
to be prepared for the coronavirus to spread further and would
announce its main action plan for responding to the outbreak on
Tuesday.
The bluechip index was also boosted by oil majors BP Plc
and Royal Dutch Shell Plc as hopes of a supply
cut boosted oil prices.
Miners and luxury goods makers
rose between 3% and 2.4%, after being hit last week in a
worldwide sell-off that erased more than $5 trillion from equity
markets.
But interest-rate sensitive banks lagged the
wider rally on Monday, as investors expected central banks to
slash rates after data showed China's factory activity being
battered by the health crisis, which has infected more than
87,000 people and killed more than 3,000.
"Equity markets have become overly dependent on central
banks coming in anytime things look a bit shaky and essentially
throwing money at the problem - cutting interest rates,
government bond buying schemes," CMC Markets analyst David
Madden, said.
"If we have a health crisis whereby people, towns, cities
are locked out or in quarantine, how is an interest rate cut
really going to encourage people to go out and borrow and spend
more money?" he added.
The CME Group's FedWatch Tool now assigns a 100% chance that
the Fed will lower borrowing costs at its two-day meeting
concluding on March 18.
Airlines fell 1.9%, while car and auto parts
firms ended the day 8.31% lower as dealers took the
view that travel would be greatly diminished on account of the
coronavirus taking hold in Europe.
British Airways-owner IAG fell 8.2%.
In news-driven moves, mid-cap firm Senior , a
supplier to Boeing jumped 4.9% after saying it was taking
firm action to restructure its business and ensure a return to
growth in 2021.
Insurer Hiscox rose 4% after it said it had received
small claims related to the outbreak as a pandemic is only
covered in a very small part of its portfolio.
Drugmaker Hikma Pharmaceuticals rose 6.2% after
Barclays raised its price target.
(Reporting by Noor Zainab Hussain and Sagarika Jaisinghani,
Additional reporting by Shivani Kumaresan in Bengaluru;
Editing by Vinay Dwivedi and Lisa Shumaker)
18 Jan 2024 09:26
Sainsbury's to gradually withdraw from banking
LONDON, Jan 18 (Reuters) - British supermarket Sainsbury's said on Thursday it would wind down its banking business and instead offer financial products through third parties, as part of a strategy to focus on its core retail operations.
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