(Alliance News) - London stocks were lower early Tuesday in quiet Christmas Eve trade, with NMC Health weighing on the FTSE 100 as short-selling target gave back some of its recent rebound.
The FTSE 100 index was down 13.04 points, or 0.2%, at 7,610.55 early Tuesday. The mid-cap FTSE 250 index was just 6.78 points lower at 21,836.57, and the AIM All-Share index was down 0.1% at 946.13.
The Cboe UK 100 index was down 0.2% at 12894.24. The Cboe 250 was flat at 19,726.77, and the Cboe Small Companies flat at 12,115.92.
The London Stock Exchange will close early, at 1230 GMT, for Christmas Eve. The LSE will re-open for a normal, full-day session on Friday.
In mainland Europe, the CAC 40 in Paris was flat. Financial markets in France will close early on Tuesday, while German markets are completely closed on Christmas Eve.
In Asia on Tuesday, the Japanese Nikkei 225 index closed flat. In China, the Shanghai Composite ended up 0.7%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong finished down 0.2%.
In currency markets, the pound remained limp on Tuesday.
Sterling was quoted at USD1.2926 early Tuesday, flat on USD1.2925 at the London equities close on Monday. The pound was quoted at USD1.3051 at the equities close on Friday, and rose above the USD1.35 mark just under a fortnight ago in the wake of the UK general election exit poll.
"Gains in the run-up to the announcement of the election result on 12 December have proved fleeting and a weekly close below USD1.2900 would bring the risk of a further unwinding towards the November low of USD1.2764. It is unclear at this stage if there is more to the price action than year-end position squaring," said Societe Generale.
In other currencies, the euro was quoted at USD1.1083 early Tuesday, flat on USD1.1089 late Monday. Against the yen, the dollar was quoted at JPY109.39, firm on JPY109.35.
In London, NMC Health shares continued their rollercoaster ride, down 10% after a 37% surge on Monday.
The UAE-focused healthcare firm on Monday said it will be commencing an independent, third-party investigation into claims made by Muddy Waters,which said it has a short position on NMC.
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."
This caused the stock to drop 32% in one day alone, with movements volatile ever since.
Bodycote was up 1.8% after it agreed to acquire North America-based Ellison Surface Technologies for a gross consideration of USD200 million, worth around GBP154 million.
The deal will be "highly complementary" to Bodycote's existing Surface Technology business, the company said. It will be integrated into Bodycote's surface technology and aerospace business, "which itself has seen strong structural growth in recent years", the FTSE 250 constituent commented.
Pendragon, up 1.1%, said it has sold its Jaguar Land Rover motor vehicle dealership in Newport Beach, California for GBP31.1 million.
The transaction is in line with the company's strategy of disposing of its US motor business, the car seller said, and work on the remaining disposals continues.
Elsewhere in London, Resolute Mining was up 8.1% after saying it has forward sold an additional 30,000 ounces of gold at an average price of USD1,501 per ounce.
In addition, Resolute said it has extended the company's dollar-denominated gold hedge position to secure price certainty during 2020 for a portion of the dollar revenue generated from Resolute's African gold mines, comprising the Syama mine in Mali and the Mako mine in Senegal.
Gold was quoted at USD1,490.99 early Tuesday, up from USD1,483.60 at the London equities close on Monday. Gold last traded above the USD1,500 mark in November.
In other commodities, Brent oil was trading at USD66.44 early Tuesday, higher than USD66.00 at the London equities close on Monday.
By Lucy Heming; lucyheming@alliancenews.com
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Bodycote (BOY)
Resolute Mining (RSG)