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London open: Stocks rise amid coronavirus hopes

By Michele Maatouk

Date: Tuesday 07 Apr 2020

London open: Stocks rise amid coronavirus hopes

(Sharecast News) - London stocks rose in early trade on Tuesday as investors welcomed signs that the coronavirus spread in countries such as Italy and Spain is slowing.
At 0830 BST, the FTSE 100 was up 3% at 5,747.63, while sterling was 0.8% firmer against the dollar at 1.2334, having fallen late on Monday on news that Prime Minister Boris Johnson had been moved to intensive care after his coronavirus symptoms worsened.

Spreadex analyst Connor Campbell said: "Though they may well be getting ahead of themselves, following a blockbuster session from the Dow Jones and some solid growth in Asia, the European indices pushed forward with the week's rebound.

"With no daily coronavirus deaths in China for the first time since January, Germany aiming to end its lockdown after April 19, a falling daily death toll in Spain, improvements in Italy and signs of stabilisation in New York, investors puffed their chests out in an act of trading bravado on Tuesday.

"Of course, for all those ostensible positives, you could compile an equally alarming list of negatives. France just recorded its highest daily death tally so far, Prime Minister Boris Johnson is in intensive care due to his coronavirus infection, Japan is preparing to declare a state of emergency and the brewing unemployment crisis in America is routinely being ignored by the markets."

In equity markets, aerospace engineer Meggitt was the top riser, closely followed by Rolls-Royce.

InterContinental Hotels, easyJet and British Airways parent IAG also racked up solid gains, while housebuilders Taylor Wimpey and Persimmon advanced.

Home repair company Homeserve rallied after saying it expects to deliver profits ahead of expectations as it maintains a full workforce during the coronavirus crisis, while Go-Ahead was boosted by an upgrade to 'buy' at Liberum.

Cineworld surged as it deferred dividends and directors' pay to conserve cash after closing all its cinemas during the Covid-19 crisis.

Victrex pushed higher after it said trading in the first had been in line with expectations, but that it is too early to provide guidance for the rest of the year amid the coronavirus pandemic.

On the downside, 4imprint lost ground as it said that daily order counts have been running at about 20% of the 2019 comparative, having previously said it was 40%.

Workspace was also in the red after it said half the rent it was owed at the end of March went unpaid as the coronavirus crisis began to hit the flexible office space company's business.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 5,747.63 2.96%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 15,190.96 2.56%
techMARK (TASX) 3,356.73 2.76%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Meggitt (MGGT) 274.30p 9.41%
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 3,424.00p 7.84%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 321.00p 7.83%
easyJet (EZJ) 594.00p 7.53%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 243.00p 7.33%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 125.55p 7.31%
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 114.85p 7.29%
Persimmon (PSN) 1,958.50p 7.20%
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 497.80p 6.60%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 1,863.50p 6.49%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Prudential (PRU) 1,021.00p 0.00%
Spirax-Sarco Engineering (SPX) 7,710.00p 0.00%
Carnival (CCL) 716.00p 0.00%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 6,204.00p 0.71%
SSE (SSE) 1,140.00p 0.75%
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 2,366.00p 0.77%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 1,400.00p 0.79%
Diageo (DGE) 2,574.50p 0.82%
Vodafone Group (VOD) 117.52p 0.82%
HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 418.35p 0.88%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Network International Holdings (NETW) 396.00p 9.51%
Go-Ahead Group (GOG) 1,095.00p 8.96%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 108.50p 8.39%
Virgin Money UK (VMUK) 66.22p 8.38%
Vistry Group (VTY) 646.50p 7.93%
Spirent Communications (SPT) 243.50p 7.27%
G4S (GFS) 86.88p 7.21%
Redrow (RDW) 387.60p 7.07%
Wetherspoon (J.D.) (JDW) 930.50p 7.02%
Greggs (GRG) 1,699.00p 6.86%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

4Imprint Group (FOUR) 1,722.00p -5.90%
Clarkson (CKN) 2,290.00p -1.72%
Forterra (FORT) 178.80p -0.67%
Workspace Group (WKP) 675.00p -0.66%
Hill & Smith Holdings (HILS) 940.00p -0.42%
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 80.45p -0.12%
PureTech Health (PRTC) 226.50p 0.00%
Genesis Emerging Markets Fund Ltd Ptg NPV (GSS) 626.00p 0.00%
Capita (CPI) 27.50p 0.00%
FDM Group (Holdings) (FDM) 730.00p 0.00%

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