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(Alliance News) - A jittery pound allowed the foreign earnings-heavy FTSE 100 to climb on Tuesday as eyes lie on this evening's vote in Westminster, while the prospect of a takeover battle for online takeaway platform Just Eat drummed up appetite for the firm's shares.
The FTSE 100 index closed up 48.85 points, or 0.7%, at 7,212.49. The FTSE 250 ended down 126.88 points, or 0.6%, at 20,181.91, and the AIM All-Share closed down 1.04 points, or 0.1%, at 884.15.
The Cboe UK 100 ended up 0.7% at 12,237.24, the Cboe UK 250 closed 0.6% lower at 18,154.15, and the Cboe Small Companies ended up 0.4% at 11,155.70.
The pound was quoted at USD1.2958 at the London equities close Tuesday, lower compared to USD1.2982 at the close on Monday with all eyes on Westminster this evening.
"Not only is it [the pound] feeling nervy pre-vote, it is also dealing with the re-raised spectre of a general election," said Connor Campbell at Spreadex.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Tuesday warned MPs that if they vote against the timetable to push his European Union divorce deal through parliament this week, he will abandon the legislation and try to hold a snap election.
MPs will vote later Tuesday on whether they support a new divorce deal struck with the EU last week ahead of Britain's October 31 scheduled departure from the bloc.
They will also vote on the government's proposed timetable to approve the agreement in parliament, which would see frenzied debate in the coming days ahead of giving final approval on Thursday.
"Sterling's jitters meant that the FTSE managed to push forth while its peers stalled," the Spreadex analyst added, though noting that it was not only the pound's "Brexit butterflies" that propelled the index higher on Tuesday.
"It turns out that people are pretty hungry for Just Eat at the moment," Campbell observed.
Just Eat shares surged 25% to 735.00 pence amid the prospect of a bidding battle for the takeaway platform after it rebuffed a rival offer to its planned merger with Takeaway.com.
Amsterdam-listed Prosus on Tuesday made a GBP4.9 billion cash bid for Just Eat, offering shareholders an alternative to the UK online food delivery platform's all-share merger with Takeaway.com, also Dutch listed.
Prosus made three bids, Just Eat said, at 670p, 700p, and finally 710p, but all of them have been rejected. Prosus Chief Executive Bob van Dijk said Prosus had been unable to constructively talk with the Just Eat board.
Prosus, majority-owned by South African media and technology investor Naspers, said its 710p bid is a 20% premium to Takeaway.com's own offer of 594p per share and a 20% premium to Just Eat's closing price in London on Monday.
Prosus shares ended 0.5% higher, while Takeaway.com gained 2.8%.
In European equities on Tuesday, the CAC 40 in Paris ended up 0.2%, while the DAX 30 in Frankfurt ended 0.1% higher.
The euro stood at USD1.1140 at the European equities close Tuesday, flat against USD1.1142 at the same time on Monday.
Against the yen, the dollar was trading at JPY108.54, flat compared to JPY108.55 late Monday.
Stocks in New York were broadly higher at the London equities close, with the Dow Jones up 0.2%, and the S&P 500 index up 0.1%, but the Nasdaq Composite down 0.1%.
On Wall Street, fast food chain McDonald's shed 3.1% after reporting a decline in third quarter net income.
In the three months to September 30, the chain, known for its burgers and chicken nuggets, recorded net income of USD1.61 billion, down 1.8% year-on-year from USD1.64 billion. Revenue in the third quarter increased 1.1% to USD5.43 billion from USD5.37 billion the year before.
McDonald's US revenue was 3.1% higher at USD1.99 billion with International Market revenue flat at USD2.97 billion.
Meanwhile, Biogen shares soared 26% on the combination of a solid set of third quarter results and a surprise regulatory filing for its previously shuttered Alzheimer's disease treatment.
For the three months ended September, pretax profit narrowed 1.7% to USD1.78 billion from USD1.81 billion the year prior. This was despite revenue rising 4.7% to USD3.60 billion from USD3.44 billion the year before.
In March, shares in Biogen fell sharply after new studies of its aducanumab treatment for Alzheimer's disease had been halted. On Tuesday, however, Biogen announced plans to file the drug for approval with the FDA after "new analysis" of a larger dataset from its phase three clinical trial.
Back in London, St James's was also among the risers in the FTSE 100, ending up 3.2% after reporting a rise in closing funds under management in the third quarter.
At September 30, the wealth manager recorded GBP112.82 billion in funds under management, 3.2% higher than the GBP109.32 billion reported three months earlier. Year-on-year, St James's Place funds under management are 12% higher.
In the third quarter, the wealth manager recorded GBP2.11 billion net inflows, with GBP1.48 billion of that coming from the company's Pension funds.
Oil majors were also among the session's gainers, with BP shares ending up 1.9% and Royal Dutch Shell 'A' shares up 1.9% and 'B' up 2.2%.
Brent oil was quoted at USD60.10 a barrel at the London equities close Tuesday from USD58.68 late Monday.
"Oil has rebounded from the declines yesterday as hopes have been raised in relation to the US-China trade situation. Recently the oil market has moved in tandem with global stocks, and seeing as US equity markets are a little higher, it’s no surprise that oil has gained ground too," said David Madden at CMC Markets.
In other commodities, gold was quoted at USD1,484.14 an ounce at the London equities close Tuesday, flat against USD1,484.13 at the close on Monday.
At the bottom of the FTSE 100 was TUI, closing 7.1% after Morgan Stanley cut the travel firm to Equal Weight from Overweight.
Reckitt Benckiser closed down 1.6% after cutting its annual guidance.
The company, which owns antiseptic brand Dettol, sore throat medicine Strepsils and hair removal brand Veet, said like-for-like sales for the three months to September 30 grew 1.6%, with reported sales rises 5.3% year-on-year to GBP3.29 billion. Year-to-date comparable sales were up 0.9%, while reported sales increased 2.9% to GBP9.53 billion.
The Slough, England-based consumer goods maker now expects its 2019 like-for-like net revenue growth to be in the range of flat to 2% from previous 2% to 3% growth estimate. In July, Reckitt lowered its annual like-for-like sales growth target to range of 2% to 3% from 3% to 4%.
FTSE 250-listed lender CYBG ended the session 3.1% higher after HSBC started the stock at Buy.
In the UK corporate calendar on Wednesday, there are annual results from IT infrastructure firm Softcat, third quarter production figures from gold miner Fresnillo and Chilean miner Antofagasta, as well as third quarter results from financial services firm Quilter.
Internationally, third quarter earnings from Paypal, Boeing and Caterpillar are due on Wednesday, while Microsoft releases first quarter results.
In the economic calendar, there are UK mortgage approvals at 0930 BST and EU consumer confidence at 1500 BST.
By Lucy Heming; lucyheming@alliancenews.com
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