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(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London were lower on Thursday morning despite calls for a higher open as investors start to take some profit, though markets are likely to lack impetus with the US closed for holiday.
The FTSE 100 index was down 9.40 points, or 0.2%, at 6,381.69. The large cap index is up 8.8% this month alone.
The mid-cap FTSE 250 index was down 46.11 points, or 0.4%, at 19,523.28. The AIM All-Share index was up 0.1% at 1,033.07.
The Cboe UK 100 index was down 0.1% at 635.51. The Cboe 250 was down 0.3% at 16,886.62, and the Cboe Small Companies down 0.2% at 11,484.50.
In mainland Europe, the CAC 40 in Paris and the DAX 30 in Frankfurt were both flat.
The Japanese Nikkei 225 index ended up 0.9%. In China, the Shanghai Composite closed up 0.2%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong is up 0.4%.
Ahead on Thursday, UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock will set out the different tiers under which each local authority in England will fall following the end of the national lockdown next week.
Hancock will make the announcement in the House of Commons on Thursday after the UK government set out its Covid-19 "winter plan" earlier this week.
Each area will be placed into one of three tiers when lockdown ends on December 2 - but the system has been toughened from the previous regime, meaning more authorities will move into the higher tiers.
Areas that make progress in slowing the spread of the virus could still be moved down a tier before Christmas, however, with the first review of the allocations due to take place by December 16.
UK government figures showed a further 696 people had died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19 as of Wednesday, with the UK total now standing at 56,533.
On the continent, Germany will extend its current coronavirus restrictions through to early January unless there is a dramatic drop in infections, Chancellor Angela Merkel said Wednesday.
Merkel said the measures introduced in early November, including limits on private gatherings and the closure of restaurants, leisure and cultural facilities, cannot be lifted given current infection rates.
Turning to the markets, CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson said: "This modest weakness in US stocks doesn't appear to have manifested itself in Asia trading, however, we are starting to see a little bit of profit-taking in today's European session despite a modestly positive open, in what is likely to be a fairly quiet European day with most US traders enjoying a long Thanksgiving weekend break.
"Markets appear to have taken the decision by German Chancellor Angela Merkel to extend the German lockdown until 20 December, due to surging Covid-19 cases, largely in its stride, however, the decision by the German government to go down this road suggests that the coming winter is likely to be a long hard slog for businesses all over Europe, as populations tire of having their freedoms restricted, and concerns grow about the prospect of much longer-term economic damage."
In the FTSE 100, DCC was the best performer, up 4.0% after Morgan Stanley raised the Irish support services firm to Overweight from Equal Weight.
CRH was down 2.2% after Goldman Sachs cut the Irish building materials firm to Sell from Neutral.
At the other end of the large caps, Imperial Brands was the worst performer, down 4.5% after the tobacco stock went ex-dividend, meaning new buyers no longer qualify for the latest payout. Property company Land Securities was down 2.7% after going ex-dividend.
Aviva was down 0.7%. The insurer said it was making progress on its company simplification strategy and announced a new sustainable dividend policy.
Aviva declared a 7.0 pence per share interim dividend. The insurer currently expects to recommend a final 2020 dividend of 14p per share, subject to a decision to be taken in March 2021. The expected 2020 total dividend of 21.0p per share is then expected to grow by low to mid-single digits, it said. However, the expected total dividend for 2020 is 32% lower than the 30.9p paid out in 2019.
The pound was quoted at USD1.3374 Thursday morning, down from USD1.3382 at the London equities close on Wednesday. Sterling was retreating from an intraday high of USD1.3398 against the greenback in early trade.
The euro was priced at USD1.1930, up from USD1.1909. Against the Japanese yen, the dollar was trading at JPY104.30, down from JPY104.38.
Brent oil fetched USD48.24 a barrel Thursday morning, up from USD48.04 at the London equities close on Wednesday. Gold was quoted at USD1,815.70 an ounce, up from USD1,811.61 late Wednesday.
Markets in the US are closed Thursday for Thanksgiving.
By Arvind Bhunjun; arvindbhunjun@alliancenews.com
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