A fresh week of trading began tentatively in Europe as reports of ‘atrocities’ by Russia in Ukrainian towns led the continent to consider new and tougher sanctions on the nation.
The FTSE 100 index closed up 21.02 points, or 0.3%, at 7,558.92 on Monday. The mid-cap FTSE 250 index rose 111.88 points, or 0.5%, to 21,329.89. The AIM All-Share index ended up 10.17 points, or 1.0%, at 1,055.26.
The Cboe UK 100 index was up 0.4% at 753.24. The Cboe 250 was up 0.6% at 18,792.34, and the Cboe Small Companies climbed 1.1% to 15,533.80.
In mainland Europe, the CAC 40 in Paris was up 0.7%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt was up 0.5%.
US nonfarm payrolls for March slightly undershot consensus, data showed on Friday, but February saw a notable upwards revision.
Brent oil was quoted at $107.45 a barrel on Monday evening, up from $105.32 late Friday. Elsewhere in the commodities space, gold stood at $1,930.80 an ounce, firm against $1,928.25.
In London, housebuilders were the star of the show - with blue chippers Barratt Development up 3.0%, Persimmon 3.1%, Taylor Wimpey 2.7% and Berkeley gained 3.2%. Online estate agent Rightmove advanced 3.5%.
‘Shares of housebuilders on the FTSE 100 and 250 shot up following reports that the government was close to agreeing a deal on cladding that didn't immediately include a £4 billion contribution to a remediation fund,’ Danni Hewson, AJ Bell financial analyst, said.
‘Housebuilders have been in the doldrums since the start of the year despite a supercharged housing market as investors priced in the cost of making repairs. The deal on the table would require companies to deal with issues on any medium rise building they've built over the last thirty years, but additional funding talks would be put off until later in the year.’
Endeavour Mining added 2.4%, after the gold miner said it will expand its Sabodala-Massawa site in Senegal, following the conclusion of a new definitive feasibility study.
Endeavour said it will supplement its existing 4.2 million tonnes per annum carbon-in-leach plant with a 1.2 million tonnes per annum Biox plant. The Biox plant will help to process the high-grade refractory ores from the Massawa Central & Massawa North deposits.
The miner said the expansion will lift the site to ‘top tier status’, with an anticipated average annual production of 373,000 ounces per year over the next five years, with average all-in sustaining costs of $745 per ounce.
Ted Baker gained 14% after the fashion retailer said it has received a third takeover offer from Sycamore Partners Management LP.
Ted Baker said it was evaluating the ‘improved proposal from Sycamore,’ having launched a formal sales process in agreement with the UK Takeover Panel. It also said it had received another ‘unsolicited’ approach by an unnamed party.
Ted Baker did not disclose the value of the latest approach by Sycamore or the unnamed third party.
The pound was quoted at $1.3121 on Monday evening, up from $1.3108 at the London equities close Friday.
The euro was priced at $1.0996, down from $1.1035. Against the yen, the dollar was trading at JP¥122.70, down from JP¥122.82.
Despite the subdued session in Europe, stocks in New York were in the green, with tech stocks getting a boost from Elon Musk.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up slightly, the S&P 500 up 0.5%, and the Nasdaq Composite up 1.4% - but Twitter stood out as its shares soared after Musk purchased a major stake in the social network.
It jumped 25% as the markets opened.
According to a document filed with the US Securities & Exchange Commission, Musk acquired nearly 73.5 million Twitter shares - a 9.2% stake in the company.
While Twitter is not large enough in terms of capitalisation to impact the wider market, market analyst Patrick O'Hare said the move has bolstered sentiment.
‘What the market is really responding to is the timing of Musk's purchase and the supposition that it is an encouraging signal that longer-term investment opportunities might be availing themselves now in former high-flying stocks,’ he said.
The stake is worth $2.89 billion, based Twitter's closing price on Friday. According to Forbes, Musk's net worth stands at $287.6 billion.
In the international economics events calendar on Tuesday, there is a slew of services PMI data, with Japan and Ireland overnight, followed by France, Germany, eurozone and UK in the morning, and the US print in the afternoon. Also worth keeping an eye on tomorrow, there is a Reserve Bank of Australia rate decision at 0530 BST.
In the local corporate calendar, there is full-year results from Domino's Pizza franchiser DP Eurasia and media firm Next Fifteen Communications, while card retailer Moonpig and home emergency repairs company Homeserve will issue trading statements.
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