LONDON (Alliance News) - Stock prices in London opened higher Monday, with mining and oil companies dominating the FTSE 100 gainers list, while the pound fell to a three-week low against the dollar after polls over the weekend gave the Leave campaign a lead ahead of the UK's EU referendum in just over two weeks time.
A survey by YouGov for Good Morning Britain gave the Brexit campaign a four-point advantage over Remain, while a poll from TNS gave the Leave campaign a two-point lead.
The pound has become increasingly sensitive to sentiment ahead of the EU referendum on June 23, and dived following the results of the two polls. Sterling traded the dollar at USD1.4390 early Monday, compared to USD1.4529 at the London equities close on Friday.
The stock market seemed less concerned. The FTSE 100 traded up 0.8%, or 52.43 points, to 6,262.06. The blue-chip index was supported by resource stocks as commodity prices rose due to a weaker dollar on the back of poor nonfarm payrolls on Friday. Rio Tinto was up 4.4%, Anglo American up 4.4%, and BHP Billiton up 3.5%.
The FTSE 250 index rose 0.1% to 17,079.24, and the AIM All-Share was up 0.3% at 744.24.
In Europe, the French CAC 40 was down 0.1% and the German DAX 30 was up 0.1%.
In Asia, the Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo ended down 0.4%, and the Shanghai Composite closed down 0.2%. The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong continues up 0.1%.
Indivior shares led the FTSE 250 fallers, down 8.1%, as it gave up some of the strong gains it made late Friday. The stock jumped 36% on Friday as it welcomed a favourable ruling from the District Court of Delaware on its patent litigation for its key Suboxone Film for the treatment of opioid addiction.
The US court ruled that Actavis Laboratories and Par Pharmaceuticals Companies's products infringe against Indivior's patents for Suboxone Film, and that the asserted claims of the patent are valid and enforceable. This gives Indivior's product patent protection until April 2024.
Gaming company Sportech, down 5.5%, said HM Revenue & Customs has applied directly to the Supreme Court for permission to appeal the UK Court of Appeal's ruling in favour of Sportech over a GBP97 million VAT repayment claim.
Back in 2009, Sportech asked HMRC to repay more than GBP40 million in VAT that the company claimed it had overpaid on its Spot the Ball game between 1979 and 1996. It later took the case to a tribunal which initially found in its favour and said it was owed GBP95 million including simple interest.
However, HMRC, which had paid the company GBP93 million, then successfully appealed with an upper tribunal in September 2014, and Sportech was required to repay the money to the taxman.
Sportech then sought leave to appeal to the UK's Court of Appeal which, last month, ruled in favour of Sportech, before refusing HMRC permission to appeal on this ruling to the Supreme Court.
Behavioural health services company Cambian Group traded up 3.6% after it said that it continues to trade in line with its expectations and that it is implementing and seeing the benefits of its remedial action programme.
In a statement ahead of its annual general meeting Cambian Chairman Christopher Kemball said that, despite challenges the company faced last year, it remains "fundamentally a good business with a strong value proposition for its customers."
The main event in the economic calendar comes after the London stock market close, when Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen speaks to the World Affairs Council of Philadelphia about economic outlook and monetary policy at 1730 BST. Investors will be eager to hear what Yellen has to say after the disappointing nonfarm payrolls number on Friday.
Before Yellen's speech, the Sentix investor confidence survey for the eurozone is at 0930 BST and the US labor market conditions index is at 1500 BST.
By Neil Thakrar; neilthakrar@alliancenews.com; @NeilThakrar1
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