LONDON (ShareCast) - (ShareCast News) - The FTSE 100 rose marginally on Wednesday as global stocks rallied after a series of executive orders from US President Donald Trump lifted investor sentiment.
The index closed up 0.20% to 7,164.43 points.

The FTSE's gains were limited as the pound recovered after Prime Minister Theresa May confirmed that a white paper detailing the government's plans for leaving the European Union will be published.

At the Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday, May said that she will publish a formal plan as she laid out in her major speech on Brexit last week.

Brexit Secretary David Davis will also reportedly publish a "straightforward" Brexit bill as early as Thursday, in order for the bill to be pushed through by May's deadline to activate Article 50 by the end of March.

Analysts said the white paper and Brexit bill remove some of the recent uncertainty surrounding the government's plans.

"With Theresa May announcing that the government would produce a Brexit whitepaper, sterling's early growth was firmed up, the currency benefiting from the increasing clarity on the how Britain intends to divorce the EU," said Connor Campbell, financial analyst at Spreadex.

Meanwhile, May said any trade deal agreed with the US would put British interests and values first ahead of her meeting with Trump later this week.

Trump on Tuesday signed executive orders that will make it easier for TransCanada to build the Keystone XL pipeline and for Energy Transfer Partners to build the final uncompleted portion of the Dakota Access pipeline. He is also expected to roll out his proposed wall along the US-Mexico border.

The news sent US equities to all-time highs with the Dow Jones Industrial Average breaking above 20,000. Construction shares also received a boost, including CRH.

"It may seem counterintuitive but however polarising Donald Trump is, and is likely to continue to be, financial markets take a rather more cold hearted view as basic resource and infrastructure plays push higher on the back of yesterday's executive order with respect to the Keystone oil pipeline and his tweet yesterday that he will look at starting to implement his policy on building a wall on the Mexican border," said Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets.

In economic data, the Confederation of British Industry revealed British manufacturers have reported the strongest inflow of orders in nearly two years. However, manufacturers are seeing costs rise sharply due to a weaker sterling following the Brexit vote.

CBI's monthly industrial orders balance rose to +5 in January from zero in December, its highest level since April 2015, beating expectations of +2.

Meanwhile, oil prices fell after the Energy Information Administration said US crude inventories rose by 2.8m barrels last week to 488.3m barrels.

Brent crude dipped 0.25% to $55.30 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate climbed 0.15% to $53.10 per barrel at 1632 GMT.

Among corporate stocks, Chilean copper giant Antofagasta advanced after reporting a strong fourth quarter performance and impressive guidance on costs for 2017.

Other mining stocks were under pressure, including Fresnillo, Randgold Resources and Anglo American, as oil and precious metal prices fell.

BHP Billiton retreated after it posted its operational review for the half year to 31 December. The company achieved record production at Western Australia Iron Ore, and total iron ore production of 118 Mt - a 4% rise year-on-year - but warned that it is likely to produce less copper than previously expected this fiscal year.

Tesco was sitting lower following reports it is facing a new claim for damages from investor Manning & Napier over the supermarket's 2014 accounting scandal.

B&Q owner Kingfisher was under the cosh as Exane BNP Paribas downgraded the stock to 'underperform' from 'neutral'.

Vodafone was under pressure after Bank of America Merrill Lynch downgraded the stock to 'neutral' from 'buy' as the telecoms giant's multiple headwinds in recent months are "unlikely to abate in the near-term", with the 2 February trading update predicted to be cautious.

Restaurant Group tumbled as it said like-for-like sales continued to slip in the fourth quarter of 2016, and the company plans a "substantial" revamp of its casual dining chains as part of a group-wide "transformation programme".

WH Smith surged after reporting a strong start to full-year 2017, particularly in the Travel business. In the 21 weeks to 21 January, total sales were up 2% and like-for-like sales were up 1%.

Ashmore was a high riser as UBS upgraded the stock to 'buy' from 'neutral', saying the market has little to fear from a rising US dollar and interest rates.



Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,164.43 0.20%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 18,133.35 0.18%
techMARK (TASX) 3,236.22 -0.23%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Antofagasta (ANTO) 855.50p 3.82%
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 227.50p 3.41%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 788.80p 3.38%
easyJet (EZJ) 1,011.00p 3.06%
St James's Place (STJ) 1,092.00p 3.02%
Admiral Group (ADM) 1,798.00p 2.98%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 343.30p 2.66%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 65.72p 2.37%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 1,595.00p 1.98%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 4,894.00p 1.96%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Fresnillo (FRES) 1,425.00p -3.85%
Vodafone Group (VOD) 193.05p -3.16%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 6,645.00p -3.06%
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 1,862.00p -2.56%
Kingfisher (KGF) 330.40p -2.48%
ITV (ITV) 204.60p -2.25%
Tesco (TSCO) 188.45p -1.93%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,360.50p -1.84%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,458.00p -1.52%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 165.20p -1.26%

FTSE 250 - Risers

WH Smith (SMWH) 1,585.00p 7.09%
Man Group (EMG) 132.70p 4.98%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 147.30p 4.91%
Aldermore Group (ALD) 220.00p 4.66%
Aggreko (AGK) 1,048.00p 4.07%
Ashmore Group (ASHM) 303.50p 3.51%
Clarkson (CKN) 2,319.00p 3.30%
Virgin Money Holdings (UK) (VM.) 308.20p 2.90%
IMI (IMI) 1,125.00p 2.46%
BGEO Group (BGEO) 2,867.00p 2.43%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Restaurant Group (RTN) 300.00p -13.32%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 239.90p -5.22%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 147.30p -4.84%
Rank Group (RNK) 190.40p -3.50%
Domino's Pizza Group (DOM) 362.00p -3.36%
Polymetal International (POLY) 933.50p -3.31%
Acacia Mining (ACA) 410.50p -3.07%
Sophos Group (SOPH) 261.60p -2.53%
Millennium & Copthorne Hotels (MLC) 463.90p -2.34%
Dairy Crest Group (DCG) 585.50p -2.34%

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