(Alliance News) - London was on track to extend its recent winning streak on Monday despite a slow start to the session as markets wind down for Christmas, as under-fire FTSE 100 constituent NMC Health showed signs of life, rising by more 30%.
The large-cap index was up 33.69 points, or 0.4%, at 7,616.17 Monday midday. The mid-cap FTSE 250 index was up 202.47 points, or 0.9%, at 21,876.77. The AIM All-Share index was up 0.5% at 945.22.
The Cboe UK 100 index was up 0.5% at 12,904.50. The Cboe 250 was up 1.1% at 19,777.93 and the Cboe Small Companies up 0.4% at 12,089.21.
In mainland Europe, trade was more subdued. The CAC 40 in Paris was flat and the DAX 30 in Frankfurt 0.1% lower in early afternoon trade.
"It has been a quiet morning in Europe as dealers are winding down for Christmas," said David Madden at CMC Markets.
In addition, Wall Street is on course for a mild open. The Dow Jones is called up 0.1%, and both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite seen 0.2% higher.
The muted moves on Monday came despite news further good news on the global trade front. China said it will lower import tariffs on over 850 products including frozen pork from January next year.
Beijing will reduce import tariffs on food items such as pork, fish, cheese and nuts, as well as pharmaceuticals and a range of chemical products. From July 1 next year, it will further reduce some tariffs on some technology products, said the ministry in a statement on its website.
Madden commented: "The move by China appears to be partly driven by a domestic shortage, and partly by a desire to build bridges with the US. Either way it is a step in the right direction for the trading relationship of the two largest economies in the world. As it is Christmas week, market volatility is low, and trading ranges are small, so it is possible today's movements are not a true reflection of market sentiment."
Meanwhile, he added, volatility in forex is low.
Sterling was quoted at USD1.2976 Monday midday, lower than USD1.3051 at the London equities close on Friday.
The euro was quoted at USD1.1077 Monday at midday, soft on USD1.1087 late Friday. Against the yen, the dollar was quoted flat at JPY109.39 versus JPY109.37.
In commodities, gold was quoted at USD1,483.40 Monday midday, higher than USD1,478.61 at the London equities close on Friday. Brent oil was trading at USD66.17, firm from USD65.80 at the close on Friday.
Bolstering London leading stock index at midday was NMC Health, jumping 31% after it outlined plans for an independent review into claims made by short seller Muddy Waters last week.
NMC Health said it was "disappointed" with the share price reaction following an "attack" on the company last week, with the stock still down 34% over the past seven days despite Monday's rise.
Muddy Waters, which was founded by short-seller Carson Block, on Tuesday last week said: "We have serious doubts about the company's financial statements, including its asset values, cash balance, reported profit, and reported debt levels."
Short selling is a trading strategy that speculates on the decline in a stock.
On Monday, the hospital chain said it will be commencing an independent, third-party investigation into claims made by the short seller.
Elsewhere in London, shares in Nichols slumped 16% after the soft drinks maker warned on 2020 profit.
Nichols expects sales in 2019 to be approximately 4% ahead of GBP114.6 million a year prior, and pretax profit is expected to be in line with market expectations. Pretax profit in 2018 was GBP31.8 million.
However, in 2020, the company said pretax profit is expected to be "materially below" current expectations, as a result of a 50% excise tax on non-carbonated sweetened drinks recently implemented in the Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates.
The tax will be applied to all non-carbonated drinks containing either natural or artificial sweeteners, meaning that, unlike the UK soft drink levy penalising the use of sugar but not artificial sweeteners, product reformulation is not an option.
The economic events calendar on Monday has US durable goods orders at 1330 GMT.
By Lucy Heming; lucyheming@alliancenews.com
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