LONDON (Alliance News) - Following a bumper session for equities in China on Monday, stock prices in London started the week in the green, with NMC Health and miners among the risers.The FTSE 100 was up 0.3%, or 22.21 points, at 7,072.01. The FTSE 250 was up 0.4%, or 70.00 points, at 18,865.75 and the AIM All-Share 0.1% higher at 1,000.66.The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.2% at 11,993.90, while the Cboe UK 250 was up 0.4% at 17,095.67 and the Cboe UK Small Companies was flat at 11,683.64.In mainland Europe, the CAC 40 in Paris and the DAX 30 in Frankfurt were up 0.8% and up 0.9% respectively.The positive open comes after strong trading in Asia overnight, said Michael van Dulken, head of research at Accendo Markets.In Asia on Monday, the Japanese Nikkei 225 index closed up 0.4%. In China, the Shanghai Composite finished a substantial 4.1% higher, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong is up 2.1% in late trade."China [had] its best day in two and a half years, continuing Friday's recovery rally...Australia more downbeat amid political uncertainty, but dual-listed miners marginally higher on the back of the China rally," he said.Miners in London were higher in in early trade, with
Glencore up 2.6%,
Antofagasta up 2.2%, and
Anglo American 1.7% higher.Also in the green among FTSE 100 stocks,
NMC Health gained 2.9% after the private hospital operator ahead of its capital markets day upgraded its annual guidance following "positive developments" during its second half.The United Arab Emirates-focused firm now sees revenue growing 24%, compared to the 22% growth seen previously, while increasing its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation guidance to USD480 million from USD465 million."2019 guidance will also point towards continuation of strong organic growth on the back of sustained ramp-up at key facilities, integration and expansion of acquired entities as well as strong operational performance," said NMC.Revenue in 2019 is forecast to increase by 22% to 24%, and Ebita is to rise by between 18% and 20%.Towards the bottom of the index were gaming firms, with
GVC Holdings down 1.9% and
Paddy Power Betfair down 1.0%.Accendo's van Dulken said: "Gambling companies will be sensitive to the UK chancellor's plans to increase remote gaming duty from 15% to 25% in next Tuesday's budget, to offset lost tax from recent stake limit changes on Fixed Odds Betting Terminals, a double-whammy for operators."Elsewhere on the Main Market,
Ryanair shares were up 3.8% despite the airline reporting a fall in interim profit.The Irish budget airline said pretax profit for the six months ended September 30 declined 13% to EUR1.26 billion from EUR1.45 billion reported for the same period a year earlier, despite revenue improving by 8.1% to EUR4.79 billion from EUR4.43 billion.Ryanair said higher fuel, staff and compensation costs offset the strong revenue growth. In addition, average fares declined 3% to EUR46 due to excess capacity in Europe, an earlier Easter in the first quarter, and repeated air traffic controllers' strikes. Second quarter profit of EUR877.1 million was "modestly ahead" of consensus, which had laid at EUR856.5 million, commented Irish broker Davy.
easyJet was up 3.0% after Ryanair's results, with British Airways owner
International Consolidated Airlines up 1.7%.In the economic calendar on Monday is Ireland's wholesale price index at 1100 BST and the Chicago Fed National Activity index at 1330 BST.In the UK, Prime Minister Theresa May will insist the Brexit deal is 95% complete as she faces MPs after a weekend of vicious attacks from within her own ranks.In a Commons statement after talks with EU leaders in Brussels, the prime minister will say the "shape of the deal across the vast majority" of the withdrawal agreement is now clear.She will tell MPs that since last month's fractious summit in Salzburg, "important progress" has been made on issues like security, transport and services."A Brexit deal appears closer but whether she can sell the deal to her party is a completely different question. Interestingly though, the last two weeks have seen some GBP shorts taken off, and IF the PM can avoid a leadership challenge in the coming days, GBP/USD will probably rally," said Kit Juckes, a strategist at Societe Generale.In another source of tension in Europe, Italy is due to reply to a letter from the European Commission, after being against an "unprecedented" deviation from eurozone budget rules.Rome's ruling populist parties are planning to raise next year's deficit to 2.4% of gross domestic product, from the 0.8% set by a previous government.The European Commission sent a first warning letter to Italy last week, and could decide to formally reject Italy's draft budget when it meets in Strasbourg on Tuesday.On Sunday, Deputy Premier Luigi Di Maio, leader of the ruling Five Star Movement, said Italy would respond to Brussels by standing up for its decisions.Meanwhile, in Turkey, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has promised to provide a full account of the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, as Saudi Arabia's king and crown prince reportedly called his family to offer their condolences.King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and effective ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz telephoned the dissident's son, Salah Khashoggi, who "expressed his sincere thanks" to the royals, the Saudi Press Agency said.Many observers have expressed the belief that Khashoggi's killing, which was described for the first time as "murder" by a Saudi official on Sunday, could not have been carried out without the crown prince's approval.The report of their phone call came shortly after Erdogan pledged that he would go into the case "in detail" during a speech before members of his Justice and Development Party planned for Tuesday. However, it said that he died following a "fistfight," a claim that has been met with widespread incredulity, including among US lawmakers, who are piling pressure on President Donald Trump to punish Saudi Arabia.
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