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(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London opened marginally higher on Monday, showing stability after a sell-off in the US on Friday, while investors look ahead to a UK GDP reading at 0930 BST.
The FTSE 100 was up 3.20 points at 7,429.85. The FTSE 250 was up 21.14 points, or 0.1%, at 19,992.09. The AIM All-Share was down 0.1%, at 872.20.
The Cboe UK 100 index was up 0.1% at 12,607.02. The Cboe UK 250 was flat at 17,841.62. The Cboe UK Small Companies was flat at 10,901.18.
In European equities, the CAC 40 index in Paris was down 0.1% and the DAX 30 in Frankfurt down 0.2%.
"Markets are focused on US-China relations at the start of the week following a report Friday that the US would consider banning Chinese listings on US markets as part of the trade war," said Markets.com analyst Neil Wilson.
In New York on Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 0.3%, S&P 500 down 0.5% and Nasdaq Composite down 1.1%.
"So we have another salvo on the US-China front. Yet more noise to contend with. This fits into the playbook of Trump negotiations - float something to ramp pressure and get a reaction. Always put the opposition on the back foot. Refuted or not, the implication of this is two-fold: first that the trade/tech war is spiralling ever wider in its scope; secondly it does not bode especially well for the high level talks due to restart October 10," Wilson added.
In the FTSE 100, GlaxoSmithKline was the best performer, up 2.0% after the drugmaker said its GSK3359609 cancer treatment delivered "promising anti-tumour activity" in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.
DS Smith was up 0.7% after the UK Competition & Markets Authority said it has accepted undertakings offered by the packaging firm and Liqui-Box related to an acquisition. As a result, the CMA won't refer the planned sale of a DS Smith business to Liqui-Box for Phase 2 review.
In August, the UK monopoly regulator had said it was considering proposals made by Liqui-Box related to its agreed acquisition of the flexible plastics packaging arm of DS Smith, after the watchdog had raised competition concerns relating to the deal.
At the other end of the FTSE 100, Whitbread was the worst performer, down 1.3% after Barclays downgraded the Premier Inn hotel chain owner to Equal Weight from Overweight.
In the FTSE 250, HomeServe was up 2.7% after RBC Capital raised the home emergency services company to Outperform from Sector Perform.
Elsewhere, Woodford Patient Capital Trust was down 1.8% after reporting a sharp decline in net asset value over the first half.
At June 30, Woodford Patient Capital said net asset value per share stood at 72.00 pence, compared to 97.61p at December 31, a 26% drop.
Woodford Patient's net assets slipped 19% over the first six months of 2019, ending the half at GBP654.2 million, compared to GBP807.2 million six months prior.
The Japanese Nikkei 225 index closed down 0.6%. In China, the Shanghai Composite closed down 0.9%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong is up 0.6%.
Financial markets in China will be closed over the coming week as the country celebrates National Day. The seven-day holiday which starts on Tuesday and ends on October 7, is called Golden Week.
Chinese manufacturers saw a modest improvement in conditions in September, with production and total new orders expanding. The seasonally adjusted purchasing managers' index rose to 51.5 in September from 50.4 in August. Despite the "modest" improvement, it still marks the highest reading since February 2018, according to Caixin data, released on Monday.
Any reading above 50 represents expansion as opposed to contraction in the sector.
The September growth was driven by a faster rise in overall new work compared to August, with new orders rising at its quickest level since March 2018. New orders were being driven by "firmer" domestic demand.
The pound was quoted at USD1.2307 early Monday, flat against USD1.2310 at the London equities close on Friday, as the UK Conservative Party conference continues in Manchester.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson will close the conference when he delivers his keynote speech on Wednesday.
"Speaking yesterday, Johnson reiterated that the deal agreed by Theresa May would not be brought back to parliament, yet he still felt that there was a 'good chance' of getting a revised deal from the EU. Compared to those political developments, UK economic data have continued to be of secondary importance to markets and that is likely to be the case again this week," commented analysts at Lloyds.
The economic calendar on Monday has Germany unemployment figures at 0855 BST and inflation data at 1300 BST.
UK GDP is at 0930 BST. The final reading of second-quarter GDP growth is expected to hold steady on an annual basis at 1.2%.
By Arvind Bhunjun; arvindbhunjun@alliancenews.com
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