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(Alliance News) - Stocks in London ended slightly higher on Monday, after a subdued day of trading in the absence of US markets, which were closed for a public holiday.
The FTSE 100 index closed up 9.95 points, or 0.1%, at 8,014.31 on Monday. The FTSE 250 ended up 9.48 points, flat, at 20,098.41. The AIM All-Share closed up 1.06 points, or 0.1%, at 866.76.
The Cboe UK 100 ended up 0.2% at 802.15, the Cboe UK 250 closed flat at 17,530.11, and the Cboe Small Companies ended up 0.2% at 14,042.61.
"Investors are in a wait-and-see mood, with several senior Fed officials scheduled to speak later this week, when January's [Federal Open Market Committee] minutes, containing transcripts of the discussions between senior monetary committee officials, are also due for release," said Ricardo Evangelista, senior analyst at ActivTrades.
The Fed will release its meeting minutes on Wednesday, and its preferred inflation gauge - the core personal consumption expenditures index - will be published on Friday.
Evangelista added that this week's events are expected to offer "more clarity" on the likelihood of a higher-for-longer interest rate scenario with the US central bank. This, he explained, could in turn have a "decisive impact" on the greenback's medium-term direction.
The US dollar ended Monday on the back foot. The pound was quoted at USD1.2034 at the London equities close on Monday, up from USD1.1999 at the close on Friday.
The euro stood at USD1.0687, higher against USD1.0662. Against the yen, the dollar was trading at JPY134.07, lower compared to JPY134.37 late Friday.
In the FTSE 100, housebuilders were largely higher at the close on Monday. Taylor Wimpey finished up 1.7%, Persimmon added 2.1%, and Barratt Developments rose 1.0%.
Figures from Rightmove on Monday showed a downward trend in UK house prices eased this month.
Property portal operator Rightmove said the average price of properties coming on the market was GBP362,452 in February, up ever-so-slightly from GBP362,438 in January.
It was, however, the smallest February increase on record. The housing sector typically shows signs of strength in the early parts of the year.
Frasers climbed 3.4%.
The Sports Direct-owner announced a share buyback of up to USD80.0 million. No more than 10.0 million shares will be repurchased, and the programme will conclude at the end of its financial year on April 30.
Tesco ended flat amid reports from Sky News that the supermarket chain is set to review options for the future of Tesco Bank, which could include a sale of the business.
Citing "City insiders", Sky reported that the review was in the very early stages and potentially may not result in a formal sales process.
One of Sky's sources indicated that a joint venture or partial sale of Tesco Bank was on the cards. The unit is estimated to be worth over GBP1 billion, according to a banking analyst cited by Sky.
DS Smith finished as the worst blue-chip performer on Monday, dropping 4.9%, as Bank of America cut the packaging firm to 'neutral' from 'buy'.
In the FTSE 250, Darktrace added 3.5%. The cybersecurity firm said that as a "sign of confidence" in its financial processes, it has brought in accountants Ernst & Young to conduct a third-party probe.
Darktrace recently received scrutiny from short-seller Quintessential Capital Management, which criticised Darktrace's management and said it is "sceptical" about its growth figures.
Quintessential said it found "numerous transactions" in the run-up to Darktrace's initial public offering which involved simulated or anticipated sales to phantom end-users, meaning ones that do not actually exist.
Darktrace Chair Gordon Hurst said: "The board believes fully in the robustness of Darktrace's financial processes and controls. As a sign of that confidence, we have commissioned this independent third-party review by E&Y. We look forward to the outcome of this review."
Darktrace is due to report interim results on March 8. The company said it does not expect to be in a position to update on the E&Y probe at the time, but will present the investigation's findings "once it is complete".
Hill & Smith finished 1.5% higher after it announced it acquired Enduro Composites for USD35.0 million.
Enduro Composites is a Houston, Texas-based manufacturer and supplier of engineered composite solutions for the industrial and infrastructure markets.
Hill & Smith noted that Enduro will become part of its engineered solutions division, and is "highly complementary to our existing northeastern and midwestern US composite businesses and will further accelerate our strategy in this exciting and growing market".
Elsewhere in London, Trifast plunged 35% as it warned annual profit would fall well below market expectations, and its chief executive made a shock departure.
The fastenings firm warned that "significant" destocking from one of its Asian manufacturing customers has hurt its operating profit.
As a result, it now expects adjusted pretax profit for the year to March 31 to be around GBP9.0 million. This is below current market expectations of GBP14.3 million by 37%, according to company-compiled consensus.
In European equities on Monday, the CAC 40 in Paris ended down 0.2%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt ended marginally lower.
The German economy has shrunk further in the first months of 2023, the country's central bank reported on Monday, predicting that Europe's largest economy is headed for a recession.
"Economic output in the first quarter of 2023 is likely to be lower than in the previous quarter once again," the Bundesbank wrote in its monthly report.
"Things could slowly pick up again in the further course of the year," the Bundesbank predicted, while warning that "a significant improvement is not yet in sight."
Brent oil was quoted at USD83.29 a barrel at the London equities close on Monday, up from USD82.79 late Friday. Gold was quoted at USD1,843.50 an ounce, sharply higher against USD1,835.70.
In Tuesday's UK corporate calendar, hotelier InterContinental Hotels, miner Antofagasta and bank HSBC will publish full-year results.
In the economic calendar, there are flash PMI prints from the EU and the UK at 0900 GMT and 0930 GMT, respectively.
By Heather Rydings, Alliance News senior economics reporter
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