The FTSE 100 was higher in London on Monday morning, amid a slew of manufacturing data, and as Labour leader Keir Starmer made promises over the weekend to bring down migration.
The FTSE 100 index opened up 53.95 points, 0.7%, at 8,328.81. The FTSE 250 was up 114.93 points, or 0.6%, at 20,845.32, and the AIM All-Share was up 0.81 points, or 0.1%, at 806.60.
The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.7% at 831.85, the Cboe UK 250 was up 0.5% at 18,265.57, and the Cboe Small Companies was up 0.1% at 17,097.19.
In European equities on Monday, the CAC 40 in Paris was up 0.2%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt was just fractionally higher.
As the UK’s general election campaign heats up, confusion in the Labour headquarters over the status of longstanding MP Diane Abbott was finally cleared up.
Abbott, the first black woman to become a British MP and a left-wing figurehead, on Sunday said she would run for Labour in July’s election after days of confusion. She also denied press reports that Labour was offering places in the UK parliament’s unelected upper chamber, the House of Lords, to MPs if they stood down from running in the general election, AFP reported.
Labour leader Keir Starmer, on course to become the next prime minister with polls putting his party far ahead of the ruling Conservatives, said on Friday she was ‘free’ to stand for his group, AFP reported.
Separately, Starmer pledged on Saturday to cut the number of migrants entering Britain, in response to one of the key issues going into the country’s general election.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s government has seen net regular migration levels soar to 685,000 last year – more than three times the level in 2019, when the Conservatives won an election pledging to cut the figure. While Starmer did not provide a timeline or exact figures for bring down migration numbers, he said passing laws to curb it would be a top priority, The Sun reported.
The pound was quoted at $1.2737 early Monday, higher than $1.2719 at the London equities close on Friday. The euro traded at $1.0850 early on Monday, higher than $1.0844 late Friday. Against the yen, the dollar was quoted at JP¥157.41 versus JP¥157.24.
In the FTSE 100, GSK lost 9.9%.
The pharmaceutical firm told investors that there is ‘no scientific consensus’ that ranitidine increases risk of any cancer, as it plans to immediately seek appeal to a ruling by the Delaware State Court, whereby a judge found the evidence backing up claims that Zantac - or ranitidine - causes cancer is legitimate and can be heard by juries.
GSK said that the ruling contradicts the Federal Court’s Multidistrict Litigation ruling under the same legal standard, and emphasised the ruling does not determine liability.
In the FTSE 250, Sirius Real Estate lost 0.1%.
For the year ended March 31, the London and Johannesburg-listed property investor posted pretax profit of €115.2 million, up 32% from €87.0 million a year prior. Revenue was up 6.9% to €288.8 million from €270.1 million.
Sirius declared a second half dividend of 3.05 EUR cents per share, up 2.3% from 2.98 cents year-on-year.
Chief Executive Officer Andrew Coombs said: ‘Looking ahead, our outlook remains positive: our active asset recycling programme, strong cash position and post balance sheet issuance of €59.9 million of debt means our balance sheet is in rude health.
Taseko Mines lost 14%.
It has suspended operations at its Gibraltar Mine in British Columbia, Canada, after collective bargaining with Gibraltar’s union representatives ended without an agreement being reached. Gibraltar’s unionised workforce informed the company that they intended to take strike action as of midnight on Friday.
Taseko opted to systematically shut down mining and milling operations prior to the midnight deadline, and the mine is now on care and maintenance with only essential staff operating and maintaining critical systems.
In Asia on Monday, the Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo was up 1.1%. In China, the Shanghai Composite was down 0.3%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was up 1.9%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney closed up 0.8%.
Growth in the Chinese manufacturing sector accelerated in midway into the second quarter, survey results from S&P Global showed on Monday.
The Caixin China general manufacturing purchasing managers’ index score for May was 51.7 points, up 0.3 point from 51.4 in April and its highest since June 2022. The increased reading above the neutral score of 50 points also marked the fourth consecutive month of accelerated growth in the sector as the overall market continued to improve.
Sentiment among Chinese manufacturers ’remained positive‘ in May, with survey respondents hoping that market demand can improve ’both locally and abroad to support higher production in the year ahead‘, S&P Global said.
Japan’s manufacturing economy also improved in May amid job creation. The headline au Jibun Bank Japan manufacturing purchasing managers’ index improved to 50.4 in May from 49.6 in April.
Climbing above the 50-mark separating growth from contraction, it indicates the manufacturing sector swung to growth. It is however slightly lower than the flash estimate of 50.5 posted on May 23.
In the US on Friday, Wall Street ended mainly higher, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 1.5%, the S&P 500 up 0.8% and the Nasdaq Composite down fractionally.
Brent oil was quoted at $81.09 a barrel early in London on Monday, down from $81.30 late Friday.
Gold was quoted at $2,324.60 an ounce, lower against $2,328.36.
Still to come on Monday’s economic calendar, there is manufacturing PMI data from the eurozone, Germany, the UK, and the US at 0900 BST, 0855 BST, 0930 BST, and 1445 BST respectively.
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