(Alliance News) – Stock prices in London were higher midday on Monday as concerns about the impact of Donald Trump’s tariff policies receded.
“The FTSE 100 broke its losing streak to trade higher on Monday with healthcare and financial stocks doing much of the heavy lifting. There was wider optimism across Europe as stocks recovered from a rocky week,” said AJ Bell’s Russ Mould.
Hargreaves Lansdown’s Susannah Streeter commented: “London’s blue-chip index, the FTSE 100, has begun the week on the front foot, rising in early trade, as concerns over the impact of Trump’s trade policies on multinational companies recedes a little.”
The FTSE 100 index was up 64.00 points, 0.8%, at 8,136.39. The FTSE 250 was up 220.59 points, 1.1%, at 20,738.51, and the AIM All-Share was up 4.64 points, 0.6%, at 739.00.
The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.9% at 816.98, the Cboe UK 250 was up 1.3% at 18,196.76, and the Cboe Small Companies was down 0.1% at 18,196.76.
Croda International was up 4.7%, leading the FTSE 100.
The speciality chemicals firm said third quarter sales rose 5% to GBP407 million from GBP387 million a year ago. It is keeping its full-year outlook unchanged, eyeing an adjusted pretax profit of between GBP260 million and GBP280 million at constant exchange rates.
NatWest was up 2.9%.
The bank has repurchased GBP1 billion worth of its shares from HM Treasury, as the UK government continues to sell down its stake. The deal was for 262.6 million shares, a 3.2% stake, at 380.8 pence each, the stock’s closing price on Friday.
On the FTSE 250, Direct Line was down 0.1%.
The insurer said it will be cutting 550 jobs as it reported a 35% decline in gross written premiums and associated fees to GBP835.9 million from GBP1.28 billion the previous year. On-quarter this figure was down by 40% from GBP1.40 billion.
Ceres Power led the index, up 7.8%.
The clean energy technology developer was raised by broker Jefferies to ‘buy’ from ‘hold’. Jefferies also increased the price target to 265p from 190p.
On AIM, Cavendish Financial was up 3.7%.
The investment bank’s revenue jumped 42% to GBP27.7 million in the six months to September 30, from GBP19.5 million a year ago. The company swung to an interim pretax profit of GBP52,000 from a loss of GBP2.4 million.
Cavendish also declared an interim dividend of 0.3 pence per share compared to none a year prior.
In European equities on Monday , the CAC 40 in Paris was up 1.1%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt was up 1.3%.
The pound was quoted lower at USD1.2887 at midday on Monday in London, compared to USD1.2926 at the equities close on Friday. The euro stood lower at USD1.0662, against USD1.0731. Against the yen, the dollar was trading higher at JPY153.75 compared to JPY152.62.
Stocks in New York were called higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was called up 0.4%, the S&P 500 index up 0.3%, and the Nasdaq Composite up 0.3%.
“Wall Street has been deep in optimism, amid expected tax cuts and lighter regulation from a Trump Presidency, helped by the Fed’s interest rate cut,” Streeter said.
Brent oil was quoted lower at USD72.63 a barrel at midday in London on Monday from USD73.58 late Friday.
“While oil traders play a waiting game when it comes to Trump’s policies towards the Middle East and Ukraine, geo-political tensions are still high. However, supply concerns are being offset by worries about weaker demand for energy in China’s economy, given the latest stimulus package didn’t go as far as expected in offering tax incentives to businesses and consumers. This disappointment has weighed on oil prices,” Streeter said.
Gold was quoted lower at USD2,666.17 an ounce against USD2,685.63.
On Monday’s economic calendar, US bond markets are closed for Veterans Day.
By Emma Curzon, Alliance News reporter
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