London close: Stocks edge higher despite gains for pound

(Sharecast News) - London listed shares edged higher at the start of the week despite conflicting reports regarding the status of ongoing trade talks between Washington and Beijing and strength in Sterling.
Overnight, China's Ministry of Commerce described contacts at the weekend between top trade negotiators from both sides, as "constructive".

But come early afternoon in London, citing a source in the Chinese government, CNBC reported that the mood in Beijing about reaching a phase-one trade deal was "pessimistic" after the US President had denied during the previous week that he had agreed to roll-back trade tariffs.

"Kudlow's comments last week about progress [in US-China trade talks] fuelled a substantial rally, but today's news has seen US markets edge only slightly lower," said IG's Chris Beauchamp.

"A possible extension of the trade standoff into next year might as a brake on equity gains into December, but so far the pullback has yet to turn into anything particularly substantial. Momentum continues to be the driving force here, with post options expiration weakness still likely to be viewed as a buying opportunity."

Against that backdrop, and helped by the fresh record highs reached by Wall Street's main stockmarket gauges during the previous session, on Friday, by the end of trading, London's top-flight index was up by 0.01% at 7,307.70.

That was despite a gain of 0.48% in the value of the pound versus the euro to reach 1.29661 after Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that all Tory candidates had agreed to vote for his Brexit deal if elected in December.

In parallel, the second tier FTSE 250 added 0.18% to 20,440.50, with some market commentary pointing out how the latest voter polls were continuing to point to a consistent advantage for the Tories ahead of the next general election.

Adding to the positive tone in financial markets, China's central bank trimmed one of its key policy interest rates, a move that analysts said could foreshadow more rate cuts, and the US government approved a three-month extension to the license for US companies to continue trading with Chinese telecommunications equipment maker Huawei.

Back on home turf, according to property website Rightmove, prices for new properties coming to market in the UK dropped by 1.3% or £3,904 versus October, as the number of new sellers shrank by 14.9% in comparison to a year ago, with the latter marking the largest decline seen since August 2009.

No major economic releases were scheduled in the UK, US or euro area on Monday.

Among some of the broker recommendations that moved markets on Monday, analysts at Jefferies upgraded their view on shares of HSBC from 'hold' to 'buy' while hiking their target price on the company's stock from 691.0p to 790.0p.

IQE craters

Semiconductor wafer products and materials solutions provider IQE updated the market on its trading for the year on Monday, reporting that it now expected to deliver revenue of between £136m and £142m, down from its previous guidance range of £140m to £160m, including a forex tailwind of circa £3m, sending its shares diving.

Diploma reported 15% growth in annual profit before tax to £83.5m after revenue climbed by 12% to £544.7m on the back of a good performance from the FTSE 250-listed company's healthcare businesses. The technical products and services specialist said that, though the political and economic outlook remains uncertain, it remained on track for another strong performance in the year ahead due to its resilient business model.

Technology group Sage said it had agreed to sell its Sage Pay business to US Bancorp's payments unit Elavon for £232.0m. It said it expected to report a statutory profit of around £180.0m on completion, which would close in the second quarter of the 2020 fiscal year.

TI Fluid Systems announced on Monday that Ronald Hundzinski would be its new chief financial officer, effective 6 January. The FTSE 250 company said he was joining from Tenneco, where he was currently executive vice-president of finance. During the prior 35 years, he had held a number of leadership positions in finance at Emerson Electric, GKN, Meridian Automotive and BorgWarner, and served as chief financial officer and executive vice-president of BorgWarner from 2012 until 2018.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,307.70 0.07%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,440.50 0.18%
techMARK (TASX) 4,005.52 0.43%

FTSE 100 - Risers

NMC Health (NMC) 2,504.00p 5.74%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 209.60p 2.34%
Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 1,776.00p 2.13%
SSE (SSE) 1,336.50p 2.10%
Severn Trent (SVT) 2,362.00p 2.03%
Whitbread (WTB) 4,458.00p 1.92%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 7,355.00p 1.86%
Rightmove (RMV) 605.00p 1.85%
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 771.20p 1.72%
Flutter Entertainment (FLTR) 8,444.00p 1.68%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Aviva (AV.) 414.50p -4.58%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 2,086.00p -3.21%
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 3,165.00p -2.19%
3i Group (III) 1,047.00p -1.88%
Glencore (GLEN) 239.50p -1.68%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 2,347.00p -1.63%
Vodafone Group (VOD) 152.12p -1.60%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 548.60p -1.58%
Evraz (EVR) 357.70p -1.46%
BP (BP.) 501.80p -1.40%

FTSE 250 - Risers

PureTech Health (PRTC) 248.00p 13.70%
Diploma (DPLM) 1,775.00p 4.35%
Barr (A.G.) (BAG) 605.00p 3.95%
Homeserve (HSV) 1,197.00p 3.90%
Howden Joinery Group (HWDN) 616.80p 3.54%
Great Portland Estates (GPOR) 807.00p 3.12%
Sports Direct International (SPD) 331.20p 2.99%
Energean Oil & Gas (ENOG) 920.00p 2.79%
CLS Holdings (CLI) 263.00p 2.73%
FirstGroup (FGP) 116.60p 2.55%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 472.20p -5.71%
Cineworld Group (CINE) 192.70p -3.63%
Elementis (ELM) 172.00p -3.21%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 143.65p -3.00%
Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 397.20p -2.98%
Premier Oil (PMO) 85.60p -2.98%
Renishaw (RSW) 3,832.00p -2.94%
Wood Group (John) (WG.) 357.90p -2.74%
TBC Bank Group (TBCG) 1,294.00p -2.71%
Vesuvius (VSVS) 412.00p -2.60%