London open: Stocks little changed as Brexit talks eyed
By Michele Maatouk
Date: Thursday 03 Dec 2020
(Sharecast News) - London stocks were little changed in early trade on Thursday following solid gains in the previous session, with Brexit talks in focus as the end of December deadline looms.
At 0915 GMT, the FTSE 100 was up 0.1% at 6,467.10.
CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson said: "US markets once again managed to post new record highs, on reports that US lawmakers were mulling a new $908bn coronavirus stimulus deal.
"While this may seem like Groundhog Day for a lot of people, and we've certainly been here a number of times before since July, there is now increasing evidence that the US economy is starting to slow as we head into year end, against a backdrop of the deadliest day for US coronavirus deaths."
As far as Brexit talks are concerned, Hewson said: "France is starting to sabre rattle saying it could veto a deal if it doesn't like the terms, a move that appears to be designed to exert pressure on Michel Barnier and EU negotiators not to give too much away, when it comes to fishing.
"While some of this noise is no doubt designed for domestic consumption, the reality is if France were to veto a deal, French fishermen would lose legal access to UK waters completely in the event of no deal. A no deal would also rebound viciously back into Northern France, an area that already has very high structural unemployment."
In equity markets, Rolls-Royce rallied after the engine maker's director of energy and technology told Bloomberg in an interview that the Covid-19 crisis may provide the company with space for development of critical new engine technologies and a possible re-entry into the narrow-body jetliner market. BAE Systems was also on the rise.
Sainsbury's advanced after becoming the latest supermarket to bow to pressure and repay more than £400m in business rates relief received from the government to help cope with the coronavirus pandemic.
Rivals Tesco and Morrison on Wednesday said they would repay more than £850m as demands grew for the money to be returned in light of booming profits and dividend payments from supermarkets.
Investment platform AJ Bell pushed higher as it hiked its dividend and reported a jump in full-year profit and revenue after gaining a record number of customers.
Shares in Hochschild Mining plunged after JPMorgan placed 61.7m shares in the gold miner at 200p each for Pelham Investment Corporation, which is owned by the company's chairman, Eduardo Hochschild. The placing price represents a 16% discount to the stock's closing price on Wednesday.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 6,467.10 0.06%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,892.98 0.08%
techMARK (TASX) 4,002.41 0.35%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 121.15p 3.77%
GVC Holdings (GVC) 1,064.00p 2.31%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 165.75p 2.22%
Sage Group (SGE) 590.00p 1.97%
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 2,581.00p 1.94%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 2,225.00p 1.83%
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,160.00p 1.75%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 213.40p 1.67%
Compass Group (CPG) 1,449.50p 1.47%
Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 1,113.00p 1.46%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Admiral Group (ADM) 2,853.00p -1.31%
Severn Trent (SVT) 2,361.00p -1.30%
BT Group (BT.A) 124.80p -1.23%
BP (BP.) 263.90p -1.22%
British Land Company (BLND) 484.60p -1.18%
Prudential (PRU) 1,214.50p -1.14%
Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 176.95p -0.95%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 483.40p -0.84%
Aviva (AV.) 333.30p -0.83%
Unilever (ULVR) 4,364.00p -0.80%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Paragon Banking Group (PAG) 452.80p 4.96%
WH Smith (SMWH) 1,605.00p 3.55%
Cineworld Group (CINE) 66.00p 3.51%
Royal Mail (RMG) 332.40p 3.17%
Micro Focus International (MCRO) 375.30p 3.13%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 240.80p 3.08%
Man Group (EMG) 124.45p 3.06%
TBC Bank Group (TBCG) 1,278.00p 2.90%
AJ Bell (AJB) 436.00p 2.71%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 122.30p 2.60%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 200.00p -15.54%
TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 462.60p -3.93%
Hipgnosis Songs Fund Limited C Shs NPV (SONC) 110.50p -3.91%
Beazley (BEZ) 358.80p -2.71%
Ninety One (N91) 219.00p -2.49%
Big Yellow Group (BYG) 1,107.00p -2.47%
Law Debenture Corp. (LWDB) 607.00p -2.41%
Investec (INVP) 194.05p -2.39%
Virgin Money UK (VMUK) 135.35p -2.34%
Avon Rubber (AVON) 4,125.00p -2.25%
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