Shares opened lower Friday, looking set to round off a year of stark divergence in stock performance in London on an overall negative note.
The FTSE 100 index opened down 32.0 points, 0.4%, at 7,480.72. The FTSE 250 was down 25.18 points, 0.1%, at 18,971.27, and the AIM All-Share was down 3.12 points, 0.4%, at 833.33.
The Cboe UK 100 was down 0.4% at 747.83, the Cboe UK 250 was down 0.1% at 16,440.03, and the Cboe Small Companies was down 0.1%. at 13,174.22.
The FTSE 100 looks set to close 2022 essentially flat, down just 0.4%. By contrast, the midcap FTSE 250 is on course to shed 21% and the AIM All-Share 31%.
In European equities on Friday, the CAC 40 in Paris and the DAX 40 in Frankfurt were both down 0.6%. In the year-to-date, they are down 9.5% and 13% respectively.
The London Stock Exchange will close early at 1230 GMT on Friday.
Trading is likely to be subdued as the festive period wraps up, with little in the way of economic or company news to provide much direction.
London and other global markets, including New York and Tokyo, will be closed on Monday to observe New Year’s Day.
Sterling was quoted at $1.2061 early Friday, firm on $1.2057 at the London equities close on Thursday. The euro traded at $1.0658 early Friday, edging down from $1.0661 late Thursday. Against the yen, the dollar was quoted at JP¥132.14, down versus JP¥133.31.
In Asia on Friday, the Japanese Nikkei 225 index ended flat. In China, the Shanghai Composite rose 0.5%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong added 0.3%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney closed up 0.3%.
Wall Street had rallied on Thursday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average ending up 1.1%, the S&P 500 up 1.8% and the Nasdaq Composite 2.6% higher.
UK house prices fell for the fourth month in a row this month, according to building society Nationwide, marking the worst run since the financial crisis of 2008.
In December, house prices fell 0.1% on a monthly basis, easing from a monthly fall of 1.4% in November. On an annual basis, house prices rose 2.8% in December, slowing from growth of 4.4% the month before.
The average UK house price stood at £262,068 in December, down from £263,788 a month before.
‘While financial market conditions have settled, mortgage rates are taking longer to normalise and activity in the housing market has shown few signs of recovery,’ said Nationwide Chief Economist Robert Gardner.
‘It will be hard for the market to regain much momentum in the near term as economic headwinds strengthen, with real earnings set to fall further and the labour market widely projected to weaken as the economy shrinks.’
FTSE 100-listed housebuilders edged down in early trade, with Persimmon, Barratt and Taylor Wimpey all down 0.5%. Property portal Rightmove also shed 0.5%.
Retailers were doing better, however. JD Sports added 2.0%, the top performer, and Next rose 1.3%.
Next will be the first UK retailer to release a post-Christmas trading update next Thursday.
Also providing Christmas trading updates on Thursday next week will be B&M European Value Retail and bakery chain Greggs. They were up 0.5% and down 0.7%, respectively, on Friday.
Gold was quoted at $1,1817.47 an ounce early Friday, higher than $1,811.91 on Thursday, while Brent oil fetched at $83.73 a barrel, up from $82.78.
On AIM, Nexus Infrastructure surged 33%, as it announced it has agreed to dispose of TriConnex Ltd and eSmart Networks Ltd for £77.7 million in cash.
The infrastructure services provider said around £65 million of the sale proceeds will be returned to shareholders in early 2023 via a tender offer.
After the transaction, Tamdown will be its principal trading business.
CEO Mike Morris and Chief Financial Officer Alan Martin will leave their roles and will be employed by the purchaser, with Charles Sweeney to become CEO, and Dawn Hillman to become CFO. A general meeting is set for January 16 to vote on the transaction.
Moving in the oppositive direction on AIM was Harland & Wolff, down 23%.
The firm said material shortages have affected its ability to complete ‘certain key workstreams’ of the M55 regeneration programme contract, meaning around £20 million in revenue will be deferred into the first half of 2023.
‘Whilst it is unfortunate that the company could not advance these workstreams to book revenues in 2022, the overall project is still on track and in line with the base redelivery schedule for the vessel,’ the infrastructure construction firm said.
H&W also said it has mutually agreed with Saipem to terminate a wind turbine generator jacket contract. This is due to cost escalations, which the firm has not found a ‘mutually acceptable methodology’ to split with Saipem.
‘Management has determined that the capacity in Methil could be far better utilised on more economically viable projects, which are expected to come to fruition in H1 2023 onwards,’ it said.
Saipem shares were down 1.0% in Milan early Friday.
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