WPP Share News (WPP)

LONDON (Alliance News) - Stocks got off to a strong start to April on Monday, boosted by a rebound in the Chinese manufacturing sector which helped to lift London-listed miners. However, the FTSE 100 lagged slightly behind peers as the pound rose on the UK's own strong manufacturing data and news that the opposition Labour party will throw its support behind a 'Common Market 2.0' option in this evening's latest round of indicative votes in Westminster.The FTSE 100 index closed up 38.19 points, or 0.5%, at 7,317.38. The FTSE 250 ended up 121.27 points, or 0.6%, at 19,238.76, and the AIM All-Share closed up 0.51 points, or 0.1%, at 917.34.The Cboe UK 100 ended up 0.5% at 12,420.05, the Cboe UK 250 closed up 0.6% at 17,231.08, and the Cboe Small Companies ended flat at 11,174.60.In European equities on Monday, the CAC 40 in Paris ended up 1.1%, while the DAX 30 in Frankfurt ended up 1.4%."Driven by the better than forecast Chinese manufacturing PMIs from overnight, alongside the lingering optimism surrounding the trade talks that are set to continue in Washington this week, the Dow jumped more than 200 points as April got underway," said Connor Campbell at Spreadex.Stocks in New York were enjoying a strong morning session by the London equities close, with the DJIA up 1.0%, the S&P 500 index up 0.9%, and the Nasdaq Composite up 1.0%. The Dow's climb bolstered gains in Europe, said Campbell, though a stronger pound kept the FTSE 100 in check relative to its peers. "The pound managed to push half a percent higher against the dollar and the euro, stalling its end of March decline as it appeared to express a certain amount of relief at news that Labour would be backing the so-called 'Common Market 2.0' option," the Spreadex analyst said.Ahead of another round of indicative votes on Monday, both Labour and the Scottish National Party announced their MPs will back a proposal for a "Norway-plus" plan, also known as 'Common Market 2.0'. Conservative MPs have been given a free vote, but Cabinet ministers will be told to abstain.The Norway-plus proposal, tabled by Conservative Nick Boles, was defeated by 94 in the first round of indicative votes last week, when Labour MPs were "encouraged" to support it but the SNP abstained.It proposes UK membership of the European Free Trade Association and European Economic Area, allowing continued participation in the single market and a "comprehensive customs arrangement" with the EU after Brexit.If all 35 SNP MPs throw their weight behind the plan on Monday evening, it could win a majority.The pound was quoted at USD1.3118 at the London equities close Monday, up compared to USD1.3024 at the close on Friday.There was also some strong UK manufacturing data on Monday, as the IHS Markit/CIPS PMI rose to 55.1 in March, from a revised reading of 52.1 in February. February had originally been reported at 52.0. A reading under 50 indicates contraction in the sector, whereas one above signals expansion.UK companies stepped up production in March to build-up inventories in advance of Brexit, IHS Markit said, and also to meet rising inflows of new work, mainly reflecting stockpiling at clients.Meanwhile, things were gloomier in mainland Europe as the bloc's own manufacturing sector continue to sink further into contraction territory. The final eurozone PMI for March registered 47.5, down from February's score of 49.3. The reading was slightly below March's flash reading of 47.6, and marked the lowest score since April 2013.March marked the second successive month that the PMI has come below the 50.0 no-change mark.Within the eurozone, Germany's manufacturing PMI fell to the lowest reading since July 2012 as new orders posted the steepest drop in a decade.The headline IHS Markit/BME Germany Manufacturing PMI tumbled to an 80-month low of 44.1 in March, from 47.6 in February. This was the worst reading since July 2012 in the midst of the eurozone sovereign debt crisis, IHS Markit noted, and also below the flash figure of 44.7.The euro stood at USD1.1215 at the European equities close Monday, slightly lower against USD1.1227 at the same time on Friday.In the US, manufacturing activity in March expanded at its slowest rate since 2017 amid subdued client demand.IHS Markit revealed its PMI declined to 52.4 in March from 53.0 in February. This was marginally lower than the flash reading of 52.5. March's print was the lowest score since June 2017 amid a slower rise in production, caused by weaker increases in output and new orders.However, it was upbeat manufacturing data from China which boosted global risk appetite at the start of the week.The headline Caixin Purchasing Managers' Index rose to 50.8 points in March from 49.9 in February, marking the first improvement in the health of China's manufacturing sector since November.The data caused London's blue-chip miners to gain, bolstered by the health of the natural resource-hungry country. BHP Group gained 2.9%, Antofagasta also climbed 2.9% and Glencore shares closed up 2.6%.In other FTSE 100 risers, advertising and marketing firm WPP ended up 2.7% after Deutsche Bank raised its rating on the stock to Buy from Hold. Ending at the bottom of the index was easyJet, slumped by 9.7% as it sounded caution on the remainder of its financial year amid Brexit uncertainty. For the first half to the end of March, easyJet expects to report a headline pretax loss of around GBP275 million. This compares to a headline loss of GBP18 million a year ago. The airline guided for a 7.4% decline in revenue per seat at constant currency, in line with previous guidance of a mid-to-high single digit decline for the half."Whilst easyJet will deliver first-half results in line with expectations, macroeconomic uncertainty and many unanswered questions surrounding Brexit are together driving weaker customer demand in the market, such that we are seeing increasing softness in ticket yields in the UK and across Europe," the airline said.For the second half, easyJet expects revenue per seat at constant currency "slightly up", reflecting a weakening in third-quarter demand but an expected year-on-year uptick in the fourth quarter, in part driven by "an assumption of a more certain Brexit outlook".The cautious update from easyJet knocked other London-listed airlines in a negative read-across, with British Airways owner International Consolidated Airlines down 1.6%, central and eastern Europe-focused Wizz Air sliding 4.3% and budget carrier Ryanair ending down 2.4%. In the FTSE 250, infrastructure project investor John Laing gained 2.6% after RBC raised its recommendation on the stock to Outperform from Sector Perform. In commodities on Monday, Brent oil was quoted at USD68.72 a barrel at the London equities close Monday, up from USD67.55 late Friday.Gold was quoted at USD1,291.00 an ounce at the London equities close Monday, down against USD1,295.00 at the close on Friday.In Tuesday's economic calendar, the UK's construction PMI is at 0930 BST while eurozone producer prices are at 1000 BST and durable goods orders at 1330 BST. At 0800 BST, Kantar releases its latest grocery share figures for the 12 weeks ending March 24.In the UK corporate calendar on Tuesday, research and data analytics firm YouGov releases interim results and accommodation booking portal Hostelworld puts out annual results.