London open: Stocks rise amid relief over Trump statement
By Michele Maatouk
Date: Monday 01 Jun 2020
(Sharecast News) - London stocks rose in early trade on Monday, with investors relieved that US President Donald Trump did not announce more drastic measures against China in his news conference last week.
At 0850 BST, the FTSE 100 was up 1.5% at 6,165.47 as traders in Europe got their first chance to react to Trump's statement late on Friday.
Spreadex analyst Connor Campbell said: "Once again expressing how the market often likes to divorce itself from reality, the eruption of protests across the USA meant little to investors, who instead celebrated the fact last Friday's Trump press conference went slightly better than forecast.
"In that anxiety-inducing address, the President announced the USA would be revoking Hong Kong's preferential treatment status for trade and travel, no longer viewing the region as 'autonomous' from China.
"Given what markets were expecting - something that would more explicitly damage the US-China trade deal - this news was actually a relative relief. However, that relief might prove to be short-lived. Even if the move didn't cause the immediate disintegration of the trade deal, it is another issue for the two superpowers to be at war over, joining their precarious trade relationship, and the President's repeated attacks on China relating to the covid-19 pandemic."
In equity markets, aerospace and defence giant Rolls-Royce was the standout gainer, having suffered heavy losses last week following a stake sale by AKO Capital and a downgrade of its credit rating by Standard & Poor's.
British Airways and Iberia parent IAG and cruise operator Carnival were also trading higher on the prospect of travel restrictions being lifted.
Associated British Foods gained after saying it was working to re-open all its Primark Stores in England on 15 June 15 as the government relaxes coronavirus lockdown rules.
Petropavlovsk rallied after denying it was in merger talks with fellow miner UGC after weekend speculation the two firms were studying a potential tie-up.
Standard Chartered surged after an upgrade to 'buy' at Jefferies, while education publisher Pearson was boosted by an upgrade to 'buy' at Goldman Sachs.
AstraZeneca rose as it said 'Brilinta', or ticagrelor, has been approved in the US to reduce the risk of a first heart attack or stroke in high-risk patients with coronary artery disease, which is the most common type of heart disease.
Capital & Counties Properties was in the black as it agreed to buy a 26.3% stake in Shaftesbury for £436m. The purchase price of 540p a share represents a 13.9% discount to the closing Shaftesbury share price on 29 May. Shaftesbury shares were lower.
FTSE 250 gambling software company Playtech was up after saying it has been granted regulatory approval by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) to provide its casino product to the NJ market.
On the downside, GCP Student Living was knocked lower by a downgrade to 'hold' at Berenberg.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 6,165.47 1.46%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 17,250.66 1.22%
techMARK (TASX) 3,740.70 1.03%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 292.20p 7.58%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 244.70p 7.09%
Carnival (CCL) 1,125.00p 6.38%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 388.30p 5.40%
Glencore (GLEN) 157.56p 5.17%
Pearson (PSON) 486.60p 5.01%
Associated British Foods (ABF) 1,897.50p 4.20%
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 114.90p 4.12%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 149.45p 4.07%
Informa (INF) 471.10p 3.68%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
British Land Company (BLND) 399.20p -1.99%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 597.40p -1.39%
Smurfit Kappa Group (SKG) 2,610.00p -1.06%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 2,172.00p -0.87%
Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 2,022.00p -0.79%
SEGRO (SGRO) 834.40p -0.62%
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 2,556.00p -0.58%
Croda International (CRDA) 5,160.00p -0.58%
Ferguson (FERG) 6,330.00p -0.57%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 7,184.00p -0.55%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Scottish Inv Trust (SCIN) 788.00p 6.49%
Petropavlovsk (POG) 26.50p 6.43%
TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 462.00p 5.94%
Airtel Africa (AAF) 36.00p 5.88%
Micro Focus International (MCRO) 429.20p 5.53%
Virgin Money UK (VMUK) 94.00p 5.45%
Redrow (RDW) 488.00p 4.14%
Weir Group (WEIR) 1,005.00p 4.04%
Aggreko (AGK) 488.40p 3.96%
Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 177.75p 3.95%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Gamesys Group (GYS) 826.00p -4.62%
GCP Student Living (DIGS) 133.20p -3.90%
Victrex plc (VCT) 1,965.00p -3.58%
Sirius Real Estate Ltd. (SRE) 77.00p -3.02%
Bakkavor Group (BAKK) 76.00p -2.56%
Hyve Group (HYVE) 94.51p -2.36%
Senior (SNR) 60.55p -2.34%
Oxford Instruments (OXIG) 1,224.00p -2.08%
Shaftesbury (SHB) 617.50p -1.52%
Sabre Insurance Group (SBRE) 265.50p -1.12%
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