The FTSE 100 opened in the red on Tuesday morning, as the shortened final day of trading for the year kicked off with some trepidation.
Stocks in New York struggled on Monday, trade in Asian equities was unconvincing, and the nerves fed through to Europe on New Year’s Eve.
The FTSE 100 index opened down 8.35 points, 0.1%, at 8,112.66. It is up 5.0% for the year.
The FTSE 250 was up just 9.64 points at 20,414.19, and the AIM All-Share was up only 0.20 of a point at 714.43.
The Cboe UK 100 was down 0.1% at 813.48, the Cboe UK 250 up 0.1% at 17,881.12, and the Cboe Small Companies was up 0.3% at 15,834.86.
In Paris, the CAC 40 was down 0.1%. Financial markets in Frankfurt are closed.
In New York on Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1.0%, the S&P 500 shed 1.1% and the Nasdaq Composite gave back 1.2%.
Year-to-date, the Dow is up 13%, the S&P up 24% and the Nasdaq is up 30%.
Early in London on Tuesday, the pound was higher at $1.2550, from $1.2517 at the time of the local equities close on Monday. The euro was up at $1.0409 against $1.0384. Versus the yen, the dollar was down at JP¥156.07 from JP¥157.19.
A barrel of Brent rose to $74.44 early Tuesday, from $73.93 at the time of the London equities close on Monday. Gold rose to $2,613.52 an ounce from $2,597.04.
The Shanghai Composite ended 1.6% lower on Tuesday. It is up 13% for the year. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong ended 0.1% higher in an abbreviated trading session, adding 18% for the year as a whole.
China’s manufacturing activity expanded in December for the third month in a row, official data showed Tuesday, as leaders fight to reverse a slowdown in the world’s number two economy.
The country has struggled to climb out of a slump fuelled by a property market crisis, weak consumption and soaring government debt.
China’s purchasing managers’ index – a key measure of industrial output – was 50.1 in December, marking a third consecutive month of expansion, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.
Tuesday’s figure was lower than Bloomberg analysts’ prediction of 50.2, but still above 50, which indicates an expansion in manufacturing activity.
A reading below that shows a contraction.
The key indicator slid for six months in the middle of the year before returning to expansion territory in October.
Beijing has unveiled a string of aggressive measures in recent months aimed at bolstering growth, including cutting interest rates, cancelling restrictions on homebuying and easing the debt burden on local governments.
President Xi Jinping said China must put ‘more proactive’ macroeconomic policies in place next year, state media reported, as he addressed a top political body on New Year’s Eve.
‘We must... further comprehensively deepen reform, expand high-level opening up, better coordinate development and security, (and) implement more proactive and effective macroeconomic policies,’ state broadcaster CCTV quoted Xi as telling the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference at a New Year’s tea party.
In Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.9% on Tuesday but registered a 7.5% advance in 2024.
In London, among the large-caps to trade lower on Tuesday were some of its brightest stars over the course of the year.
Jet engine maker Rolls-Royce was down 0.7%, trimming its year-to-date gain to a still lofty 89%.
Packaging firm DS Smith was 0.4% lower, but is up 75% so far in 2024. DS Smith earlier this month stated that its merger with Memphis, Tennessee-based competitor International Paper is progressing as planned. The all-share transaction, recommended by the boards of both companies, received approval from their respective shareholders.
The deal valued DS Smith at approximately £5.8 billion at the time of the offer, with an enterprise value, including debt, of around £7.8 billion.
International Consolidated Airlines Group was 0.6% lower but the stock has jumped 95% this year amid a promising outlook for the British Airways owner.
On AIM, Sareum fell 15%. It said a biopharma company in the US has served notice to end a development and commercialisation deal for the SRA737 clinical-stage cancer treatment.
The Cambridge, England-based pharmaceutical company back in January said co-development partner CRT Pioneer Fund entered into a development and commercialisation pact for SRA737 with the unnamed US biopharmaceutical company.
However, CPF has informed Sareum that the US-based firm served a notice of termination of the SRA737 licence last week Thursday.
Sareum added: ‘The notice period runs for 90 days and Sareum will meet the team from CPF to discuss what steps, if any, are appropriate to seek an alternative licensee once the asset has returned to CPF on March 27, 2025.’
Sareum Executive Chair Stephen Parker said the firm is ‘clearly disappointed by this outcome’ but is now ‘fully focused on its pipeline of TYK2/JAK1 inhibitors and our priority is to drive our lead programme, SDC-1801, towards Phase 2 development.’
Digital 9 added 5.1%. It said it has entered into a deal to sell its interest in the EMIC-1 intercontinental subsea cable system for $42 million. The sum is a 15% discount to the June 30 valuation of $49.6 million, the investor in internet infrastructure, such as data centres and subsea fibre, said.
‘The project continues to be impacted by ongoing conflicts in the Red Sea area, which have led to an indefinite delay to its final construction completion. The transaction also releases the group from $10 million of additional construction commitments,’ Digital 9 said.
Chair Eric Sanderson said the sale of EMIC-1 is a ‘key milestone for progressing the wind-down of the company’. The deal can allow the firm to ‘further deleverage its balance sheet’ by trimming the balance of a revolving credit facility of $53 million.
‘The company is discussing options with the RCF lenders, to extend the remaining balance of the RCF beyond the current maturity date of March 31, 2025. The remaining balance of the RCF is expected to be repaid through proceeds from other live sale initiatives that are progressing in parallel,’ Digital 9 added.
‘The company is also in advanced discussions on the sale of the remainder of the subsea cable business, AquaComms, and expects to report on further progress in due course. The valuation process has commenced in respect of the wider investment portfolio for the year ending December 31, 2024.’
Copyright 2024 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
