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(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London opened mostly up on Tuesday, the first day of trading in 2024, reacting to slightly improved factory activity in China, with more manufacturing PMIs from major economies due.
The FTSE 100 index opened up 21.88, 0.3%, at 7,755.12. The FTSE 250 was down 12.20 points, 0.1%, at 19,677.43, and the AIM All-Share was 1.76 points, 0.2%, at 765.08.
The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.2% at 774.07, the Cboe UK 250 was up 0.1% at 17,184.40, and the Cboe Small Companies was marginally up at 14,996.20.
In European equities, the CAC 40 in Paris was up 0.5%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt was up 0.6%.
The London Stock Exchange reopened today after being closed for New Year's Day on Monday. Manufacturing PMI data will be released for the UK at 0930 GMT, alongside figures for the EU and Germany shortly, followed by US data in the afternoon.
"Whether markets can continue the momentum of a strong year-end rally remains to be seen, but the early indications give some cause for optimism," said interactive investor analyst Richard Hunter.
UK shop price inflation was unchanged at 4.3% in December, its lowest in a year and a half, but the British Retail Consortium warned that cost pressures threaten to put an end to easing inflation in 2024.
The BRC-NielsenIQ shop price index was up 4.3% in December from a year before, the annual rise slower than the three-month average rate of 4.6% and the lowest since June 2022. Food price inflation slowed to 6.7% last month from 7.8% in November.
Sterling was quoted at USD1.2746 early Tuesday, little changed from USD1.2747 at the London equities close on Friday.
The euro traded at USD1.1030, lower than USD1.1074. Against the yen, the dollar was quoted at JPY141.39, lower than JPY141.42.
On the FTSE 100, AstraZeneca was down 0.3%.
The Cambridge-based pharmaceutical firm said its and Sanofi's long-acting monoclonal antibody treatment Beyfortus has been approved in China for the prevention of respiratory syncytial virus lower respiratory tract infection in neonates and infants.
AstraZeneca said the approval by China's National Medical Products Administration is based on three "pivotal" late-stage clinical trials and an "extensive" local clinical development programme. It is anticipated to be available during the upcoming 2024/25 RSV season.
Beyfortus was approved in the EU in October 2022 and received approval by the US Food & Drug Administration in July 2023 following the unanimous recommendation by the Antimicrobial Drugs Advisory Committee in June 2023.
AstraZeneca said regulatory applications are currently under review in Japan and "several other countries".
Airtel Africa rose 0.5%, after the telecommunications firm announced the retirement of Chief Executive Officer Segun Ogunsanya, naming Transformation Director Sunil Taldar as his successor.
Taldar joined the telecommunications company in October and will be appointed to the board as CEO and executive director following a transition period at the beginning of July.
At this time, Ogunsanya will formally retire but will be available to advise Chair Sunil Bharti Mittal, the board and incoming CEO Taldar for a 12-month period.
BT rose 0.7%, while WPP inched up 0.1%, after Sky News on Monday reported that outgoing BT Chief Philip Jansen has been approached about becoming the next chair of WPP.
Jansen, who is set to leave BT in the spring, is reportedly one of a number of candidates to have been considered in recent weeks for the WPP chairmanship.
City sources on Monday said WPP's search was yet to reach an advanced stage and that there was no certainty that Jansen or WPP would opt to progress his candidacy further.
In the FTSE 250, Balfour Beatty rose 1.1% after the infrastructure construction firm said it appointed corporate brokers to manage an initial tranche of its 2024 share buyback programme, repurchasing up to GBP50 million or 63.2 million shares.
Balfour Beatty intends for this initial tranche to be completed by the end of June, while the total anticipated 2024 share buyback will be confirmed with the firm's full year results in March.
On AIM, hVIVO rose 5.3%, after it signed a GBP6.3 million contract with an unnamed biotechnology client to test its antiviral candidate using its human thinovirus, or common cold virus, study model.
The study is expected to commence in the second half of 2024, with revenue recognised in 2024 and 2025.
LungLife AI surged 36%, after it announced the successful validation of its LungLB test for indeterminate lung nodules. This was from a "prospective, multi-site clinical study in the clinically important small nodules patient group", the clinical diagnostic solutions developer said.
In Asia on Tuesday, financial markets in Tokyo remained closed for the New Year's holiday. In China, the Shanghai Composite closed down 0.4%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was down 1.5%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney closed up 0.5%.
China's manufacturing sector saw a slight expansion in activity last month, according to survey data. The Caixin purchasing managers' index edged up to 50.8 in December from 50.7 in November. Rising slightly higher above the 50-point no-change mark, it shows growth sped up slightly.
In the US on Friday, Wall Street ended lower. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 0.1%, the S&P 500 down 0.3% and the Nasdaq Composite down 0.6%.
Gold was quoted at USD2,072.67 an ounce early Tuesday, higher than USD2,065.02 on Friday. Brent oil was trading at USD78.06 a barrel, higher than USD77.56.
By Greg Rosenvinge, Alliance News senior reporter
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