European stocks opened in the green at the start of the week, boosted by an announcement from China’s top leadership which aims to aid the Asian nation’s shaky economy.
The FTSE 100 index traded up 26.17 points, 0.3%, at 8,334.78. The FTSE 250 was up 36.75 points, 0.2%, at 21,095.75, and the AIM All-Share was up 2.55 points, 0.4%, at 740.77.
The Cboe UK 100 was 0.4% higher at 837.24, the Cboe UK 250 was up 0.3% at 18,591.67, and the Cboe Small Companies was up marginally at 16,213.48.
China’s top leadership including President Xi Jinping on Monday called for a ‘relaxed monetary policy’ next year, state media reported, as officials gathered in Beijing to discuss plans to boost a shaky economy.
During a meeting of the ruling Communist Party’s Politburo, China’s top decision-making body, officials said that next year they should ‘implement a more active fiscal policy and an appropriately relaxed monetary policy’, official news agency Xinhua said.
Chinese President Xi and other top leaders met Monday to hash out economic plans for 2025.
‘We must vigorously boost consumption, improve investment efficiency, and comprehensively expand domestic demand,’ Xinhua quoted officials as having said.
In Asia on Monday, the Shanghai Composite ended flat, with the closing bell coming too early to see a boost from the announcement. The Hang Seng in Hong, however, was 2.8% higher in late trade.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 ended 0.2% higher. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney closed flat.
China’s consumer inflation rate slowed in November, official data showed on Monday, as demand remains muted in the world’s number two economy.
The country is battling sluggish domestic consumption, a persistent crisis in the property sector and soaring government debt – all of which threaten Beijing’s official growth target for this year.
The consumer price index, a key measure of inflation, rose 0.2% in November year-on-year, easing from a 0.3% hike in October, the National Bureau of Statistics said.
That was below the 0.4% forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists.
The pound was quoted higher at $1.2761 on Monday morning, from $1.2748 at the London equities close on Friday. The euro stood at $1.0559, down from $1.0569 at the European equities close on Friday. Against the yen, the dollar was trading higher at JP¥150.38 from JP¥149.83.
Gold fetched at $2,649.77 an ounce, up from $2,640.10. Brent oil rose to $71.89 a barrel from $71.22.
In London, miners were among the best FTSE 100 performers after the China developments. Antofagasta was up 2.7%, while Glencore added 2.5%.
WPP was the best performer, however, amid a possible M&A move among sector peers. Ad agency Omnicom is in talks for an all-stock buy of Interpublic, the Wall Street Journal reported. The deal would value Interpublic between $13 billion and $14 billion. Interpublic currently has a market value of $10.90 billion.
WPP was up 3.4% in early trade in London. Smaller peer S4 Capital added 2.0%.
In New York on Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.3%. The S&P 500 added 0.3% and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.8%.
Donald Trump doubled down Sunday on hard-line campaign pledges to impose trade tariffs and carry out mass deportations, while dangling the idea that the US could withdraw from Nato after he takes office next month.
In his first formal television interview since the election – and just six weeks before Inauguration Day – Trump again signalled that US support for Ukraine will scale back, saying he will ‘probably’ cut the aid helping Kyiv repel Russia’s invasion.
The president-elect also said he would ‘very quickly’ look at pardons for supporters jailed for storming the US Capitol after his 2020 election defeat to Joe Biden.
The interview on NBC’s ‘Meet the Press with Kristen Welker’ was taped Friday but aired Sunday, following Trump’s meetings with the presidents of France and Ukraine over the weekend – his first foreign trip since winning the November election against Vice President Kamala Harris.
In Paris on Monday, the CAC 40 was up 0.8%. The DAX 40 in Frankfurt was 0.1% higher.
Swissquote analyst Ipek Ozkardeskaya commented: ‘The week will be packed with central bank decisions. The European Central Bank, the Bank of Canada, the Reserve Bank of Australia and the Swiss National Bank will announce their latest policy verdict throughout this week and all – except the RBA – are expected to lower their rates.
‘The BoC is expected to cut by 50bp while the SNB and the ECB are expected to announce a 25bp cut. Some investors are convinced that the ECB could announce more than a 25bp cut. Either it could go bigger with a 50bp cut, or cut by 25bp but shift their focus from inflation to economic growth. I believe that the second option is more plausible. If that’s the case, we should not see a significant sell-off in the euro post-decision.’
The ECB rate decision is on Thursday.
Copyright 2024 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
