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(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London closed in the green on Monday, showing some positivity at the beginning of a festive week despite some gloomy data out of the UK.
"A modicum of positivity has crept back into stocks today, helped along by the thinning volumes as the Christmas break gets closer. But the shift to hawkishness from the ECB last week and the Fed’s continued rate hikes still loom large, and may well cap any pre-Christmas bullishness," said Chris Beauchamp at IG.
The FTSE 100 index closed up 29.19 points, or 0.4%, at 7,361.31. The FTSE 250 ended up 60.48 points, or 0.3%, at 18,648.96, and the AIM All-Share closed up 1.07 points, or 0.1%, at 823.54.
The Cboe UK 100 ended up 0.5% at 737.19, the Cboe UK 250 closed up 0.3% at 16,116.48, and the Cboe Small Companies ended up 0.5% at 12,905.65.
The pound was quoted at USD1.2160 at the London equities close Monday, flat against USD1.2161 at the close on Friday.
British manufacturers' output fell at the fastest pace in more than two years over the past three months, according to a survey from the UK's largest business group.
The volume of goods and services produced by factories fell by 9% in the three months to December, the Confederation of British Industry's survey of 220 manufacturing firms found.
This was a steep drop from the 18% rise in output reported in the previous three months to November, and means it contracted at the fastest pace since September 2020.
Meanwhile, in the services sector, further data revealed that UK retailers are braced for a subdued last few days of build-up to Christmas as households bear the brunt of energy and economic shocks.
Analysts Springboard said the declines in footfall from month to month from September to November and then just a modest predicted rise this month would eradicate the gains made over much of this year.
Diane Wehrle, insights director at Springboard, said footfall would rise in all three destination types from November to December, although would be "more subdued than in previous years" – by 4.5% in high streets, 5% in retail parks, and 10% in shopping centres.
In London, retailers Next, JD Sports and Frasers were down 1.7%, 2.1%, and 0.9%, respectively, amid the downbeat data.
Oil majors and miners climbed to the top of the FTSE 100 at the close on Monday, lifted by the prospect of higher demand from China as the world's second largest economy begins unwinding years of hardline Covid policy.
BP was up 3.0% and Shell was up 2.4%. Fresnillo and Glencore finished 1.9% and 1.2% higher, respectively.
Brent oil was quoted at USD79.85 a barrel at the London equities close on Monday, up from USD78.82 late Friday. Gold was quoted at USD1,787.77 an ounce, lower against USD1,789.21 at the close on Friday.
London Stock Exchange fell 2.6% after it agreed to risk manager AcadiaSoft, which it has held a minority stake in since 2018.
LSEG did not disclose the financial terms of the acquisition but said Acadia is complementary to its Post Trade capabilities, saying the acquisition will strengthen its provision of financial market infrastructure.
Acadia provides risk management, margining and collateral services to global financial institutions.
In the FTSE 250, Spire Healthcare closed up 0.5% as it said it acquired The Doctors Clinic Group, amid increased demand for healthcare services in the UK.
The private healthcare provider paid GBP12 million for the acquisition of The Doctors Clinic, which provides occupational health services to over 700 corporate clients and operates 22 private GP clinics.
"This is a modest bolt-on investment in a business that, under Spire's ownership, is expected to break even in 2023 and become profitable in 2024," Spire Healthcare said.
Elsewhere in London, James Fisher & Sons closed up 4.0% after it sold three businesses to reduce its net borrowings.
The marine services company said it sold Mimic, a provider of intelligent condition monitoring, and the UK operations of Strainstall to Biotek Environmental Science Ltd, known as BES Group, for GBP13.6 million.
James Fisher adds that it may receive up to GBP3.9 million extra in the first quarter of 2023 based on the performance in the last quarter of 2022.
James Fisher also sells Prolec, a provider of safety and control systems, to Germany-based mechanical engineering company Kinshofer Gmbh, which is part of electronic manufacturing Lifco AB, for an undisclosed sum.
On AIM, Star Phoenix plunged 35% after it announced it would be unable to appoints its new auditor or publish its results for the year ended June 30 by the end of 2022, as resolutions at its general meeting on Monday were rejected by shareholders.
Shareholders voted for the removal of the auditor and against the appointment of a new auditor. As a result, the oilfield services company's share will be suspended from trading on AIM from the morning of January 3.
Stocks in New York were lower at the London equities close, with the DJIA down 0.3%, the S&P 500 index down 0.7%, and the Nasdaq Composite down 1.3%.
In European equities on Monday, the CAC 40 in Paris closed up 0.3%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt ended up 0.4%.
The euro stood at USD1.0608 at the European equities close Monday, slightly higher against USD1.0601 at the same time on Friday. Against the yen, the dollar was trading at JPY137.00, higher compared to JPY136.60.
In Tuesday's economic calendar, there's an interest rate decision from the Bank of Japan as well as a German PPI print at 0700 GMT.
"Surveys suggest BoJ watchers are universally expecting steady policy to be confirmed again this week. However, that has not stopped another wave of speculation as to whether the BoJ could be prepared to tweak policy, perhaps not this week, but in spring following the end of Governor Kuroda term in April," analysts at RaboResearch said.
In UK corporate calendar, there are full-year results from biotechnology firm Redx Pharma and a trading statement from energy sector service provider Petrofac.
By Heather Rydings, Alliance News senior economics reporter
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