LONDON MARKET OPEN: Stocks Shake Off US Protests To Edge Higher

(Alliance News) - London stocks posted cautious gains on Tuesday morning as optimism over the lifting of Covid-19 lockdowns across Europe outweighed worries over protests in the US.

The FTSE 100 index was up 13.79 points, or 0.2%, at 6,180.21 early Tuesday. The mid-cap FTSE 250 index was up 21.86 points, or 0.1%, at 17,299.39. The AIM All-Share index was up 0.2% at 884.81.

The Cboe UK 100 index was up 0.2% at 10,449.90. The Cboe 250 was up 0.3% at 14,837.76, and the Cboe UK Small Companies up 0.4% at 9,418.68.

In mainland Europe, the CAC 40 in Paris was up 0.7% while the DAX 30 in Frankfurt rallied 2.3% as markets in Germany re-opened from Monday's holiday.

"European bourses are looking ahead to another positive start on Tuesday, extending gains from the previous session as reopening optimism continues to drive markets higher, overshadowing cooling relations between US and China and growing unrest on US soil," said Fiona Cincotta at City Index.

Unrest continued in the US on Monday, with President Donald Trump vowing to order a military crackdown on once-in-a-generation violent protests gripping the country.

The dramatic escalation came a week after the death in Minneapolis of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who was killed when a white police officer knelt on his neck, leading to the worst civil unrest in decades in New York, Los Angeles and dozens of other American cities.

"I am dispatching thousands and thousands of heavily armed soldiers, military personnel and law enforcement officers to stop the rioting, looting, vandalism, assaults and the wanton destruction of property," Trump said.

He slammed the previous night's unrest in Washington as a "total disgrace" and called on governors to "dominate the streets".

Despite the president's rhetoric, Monday's protests appeared largely peaceful in major cities, though some looting was reported in New York and Los Angeles.

"The US dollar remains near recent lows against both the euro and sterling amidst uncertainties about both the international and US domestic policy outlook. Sterling has touched above 1.25 against the dollar, its highest level in almost a month," noted Lloyds Bank.

Sterling was quoted at USD1.2535 early Tuesday, higher than USD1.2470 at the London equities close on Monday. The euro traded at USD1.1129 early Tuesday, flat on USD1.1125 late Monday.

Against the yen, the dollar was quoted at JPY107.78 versus JPY107.60.

In Asia on Tuesday, the Japanese Nikkei 225 index ended up 1.2%. In China, the Shanghai Composite is up 0.1%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong is up 0.6%.

City Index's Cincotta said: "For now, investors are content focusing on the longer-term prospects of easing lockdown measures across the globe and the economic recovery".

Schools, swimming pools, pubs and tourist sites have begun to throw open their doors again in Europe as the continent continues easing lockdowns despite the threat of a second wave of infections.

The pandemic has now killed more than 377,000 people and infected at least 6.3 million since erupting in China in late 2019.

Bars have started to serve again in Finland and Norway – with social distancing restrictions or shortened hours in place – while some schools in Britain and Greece opened their doors. France registered 31 deaths over the last 24 hours, and on Tuesday is set to reopen cafes, restaurants and bistros, closed since its lockdown began in mid-March.

Pupils wearing face masks returned to school in Singapore on Tuesday and some workplaces re-opened as coronavirus restrictions were eased in the hard-hit city-state.

Travel firms were once again among the gainers in London as investors bought into the sold-off stocks, eyeing the easing of lockdowns. easyJet shares were up 3.6%, British Airways parent International Consolidated Airlines up 3.0% and cruise operator Carnival up 2.6%.

In the red were blue-chip housebuilders. Persimmon was down 2.3%, Barratt developments down 0.8% and Berkeley Group down 0.6%.

Nationwide data showed UK house prices suffered their largest monthly fall in over a decade in May.

Annual house price growth was 1.8% in May, but prices slipped 1.7% month-on-month. Nationwide noted this was the largest monthly drop since February 2009.

In April, prices had risen 3.7% annually and 0.9% on a monthly basis.

Also lower was Tesco, down 1.1% after announcing Chief Financial Officer Alan Stewart has decided to retire and will leave the grocer on April 30, 2021.

He joined Tesco in 2014. The board will now conduct a search both internally and externally to identify a successor, the supermarket chain said.

Elsewhere in London, Card Factory shares were up 8.8% as it reported a fall in full-year profit, but said online trading during the Covid-19 lockdown has been strong.

Revenue for the year ended January 31 rose 3.6% to GBP451.5 million, but like-for-like sales dipped 0.5% and pretax profit fell 4.4% to GBP65.2 million.

The like-for-like sales fall reflected weak consumer confidence and high street footfall decline in the second half, the firm said.

Turning to Covid-19, the greeting cards retailer said online trading has been strong with cardfactory.co.uk like-for-likes since lockdown up four-fold and more than doubling in the year-to-date. It is planning to open 10% of stores around June 15.

"Before the impact of Covid-19, we had made a satisfactory start to the year. In the first major season of the year, Valentine's Day, we achieved our fourth consecutive year of record sales growth in both volume and value. However, the Covid-19 pandemic has impacted trading and, given the uncertain economic backdrop, we do not think it is appropriate to provide financial guidance for FY21," said Card Factory.

Gold was quoted at USD1,737.29 an ounce early Tuesday, higher than USD1,734.85 on Monday. Brent oil was trading at USD38.64 a barrel on Tuesday, up from USD37.60 late Monday.

By Lucy Heming; lucyheming@alliancenews.com

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