LONDON (Alliance News) - London stocks edged higher Monday in relatively low volumes, as investors look ahead to an expected announcement from the European Central Bank of stimulus measures and minutes from the Bank of England's latest policy meeting, both due later in the week.
The FTSE 100 is 0.2% higher at 6,564.65, up from Friday's close of 6,550.27, when the index clawed its way back from morning losses to end up 0.8%. The FTSE 250 is up 0.4% at 15,986.24 and the AIM All-Share index is 0.2% higher at 697.63.
"As the dust continues to settle after last week?s shock action from the Swiss National Bank to abandon its currency peg, attention this week now shifts this week to one of the potential catalysts for last week?s Swiss central bank about turn, namely a widely anticipated decision by the European Central Bank to start a sovereign bond buying program that would have swept away the SNB?s currency cap," said Michael Hewson at CMC Markets.
The ECB holds its first policy meeting of 2015 on Thursday with many in the market expecting President Mario Draghi to announce a broadening of stimulus to include buying sovereign debt to add liquidity to the eurozone economy. An advisor to the European Court of Justice last week cleared the way for Draghi to launch a government bond-buying programme, a prospect which is thought to be behind the Swiss National Bank's surprise decision to drop its currency peg for the franc against the euro.
The CAC-40 in Paris is down 0.1% and Germany's DAX is up 0.3%.
The Hang Seng in Hong Kong ended down 1.5% at 23.738.49, and the Shanghai Composite ended 7.7% lower at 3,116.351, sparked by a Chinese crackdown on margin trading. Margin accounts allow consumers to buy stocks with money borrowed from their brokerage and the country's securities regulator imposed margin trading curbs on three major brokerages, a sign that authorities are making efforts to keep investor enthusiasm in check after big gains last year.
Shares in London-listed JP Morgan Chinese Investment Trust are down 4.1% and Fidelity China Special Situations are down 4%.
Brent crude is quoted at around USD49.50 a barrel Monday, having traded above USD50 for the first time in a week after touching a new six-year low of USD45.16 during Tuesday's session last week. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate was quoted at USD48.41 a barrel, up from a low of USD44.17 last week.
US markets are closed Monday for Martin Luther King Jr Day.
In corporate news, brewer and pub operator Greene King said its like-for-like retail sales rose 2% over the Christmas period, contributing to a 0.6% rise in the 36 weeks to January 11, though the growth was lower than in the previous year. It said trading had been volatile either side of the holiday period and soft in recent weeks, sending its shares are down 0.2%.
Chocolatier Thorntons said its second quarter comparable retail sales were up 5%, with a 7.8% rise in like-for-like sales in December, which helped push its shares up 1.8%.
Travis Perkins is among the the highest climbers in the FTSE 100, up 2.5%, after JP Morgan upgraded the stock to Overweight from Neutral. Morgan Stanley raised Tesco to Overweight from Equal weight and added the stock to its 'Best Ideas' list, sending the grocer's shares up 2.1%.
Japan's Nikkei closed up 0.8% at 17,014.29, helped by industrial production figures which declined less than initially estimated in November. Industrial production dropped a seasonally adjusted 0.5% month-on-month in November, revised from a 0.6% fall. In October, production grew 0.4%.
By Ian Edmondson; ianedmondson@alliancenews.com
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Fidelity China Special Situations PLC (FCSS)
Tesco (TSCO)
Travis Perkins (TPK)