London open: shares make bright start on easing trade tensions, Thomas Cook buyout

London stocks made a bright start to a damp week as they opened higher on Monday on the back of easing trade tensions and strong closes on Asian markets.

The FTSE 100 opened 0.52% higher at 7,332 as the US President Donald Trump pulled back from levying tariffs on Mexico over immigration.

CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson said impetus had also been provided from strong US payrolls numbers last Friday.

"The US said that they had reached a deal with the Mexican government to pinch off immigration levels at the US southern border. This in turn is likely to see markets in Europe open higher this morning, while the Mexican peso rebounded," he said.

On the data front, manufacturing and industrial production figures are due at 0930 BST, along with GDP and trade balance.

In UK corporate news, Thomas Cook shares rose 20.21% as the company confirmed that Hong Kong's Fosun Tourism was in talks to buy its tour operating business as the British group faces breakup after issuing three profit warnings in the past year.

Shares in plumbing products distributor Ferguson led the FTSE 100 fallers as third-quarter revenue fell short of estimates due to slower growth in the US, which is its largest market.

Full year ongoing trading profit was expected to be in line with expectations on the back of improving margins, the company said.

Woodford Patient Capital Trust, the listed fund run by Neil Woodford, also fell heavily, despite reassuring investors that the suspension of his flagship equity fund had not affected its "operational performance".

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,370.92 0.53%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,309.17 0.40%
techMARK (TASX) 3,588.88 0.45%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Antofagasta (ANTO) 822.20p 2.14%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 1,134.50p 1.93%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 173.60p 1.73%
Just Eat (JE.) 599.40p 1.66%
Anglo American (AAL) 2,004.00p 1.53%
TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 752.80p 1.29%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 4,574.50p 1.24%
BHP Group (BHP) 1,846.80p 1.24%
Glencore (GLEN) 264.10p 1.23%
Micro Focus International (MCRO) 1,960.40p 1.10%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Ferguson (FERG) 5,186.00p -3.03%
Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 1,884.00p -2.86%
Fresnillo (FRES) 800.60p -1.40%
SSE (SSE) 1,110.00p -0.94%
National Grid (NG.) 815.20p -0.94%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 828.80p -0.72%
Severn Trent (SVT) 2,065.00p -0.63%
Centrica (CNA) 95.56p -0.31%
Standard Life Aberdeen (SLA) 274.80p -0.22%
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 214.10p -0.19%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Kier Group (KIE) 164.40p 5.52%
Playtech (PTEC) 433.00p 3.10%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 207.70p 3.03%
Premier Oil (PMO) 77.75p 2.98%
Vesuvius (VSVS) 519.09p 2.18%
Babcock International Group (BAB) 490.00p 2.08%
Aggreko (AGK) 800.82p 1.99%
Weir Group (WEIR) 1,509.50p 1.89%
Wood Group (John) (WG.) 410.30p 1.89%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 252.49p 1.69%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Woodford Patient Capital Trust (WPCT) 60.30p -3.98%
FirstGroup (FGP) 102.90p -2.37%
Just Group (JUST) 45.80p -1.47%
Civitas Social Housing (CSH) 79.65p -1.06%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 168.30p -1.06%
Shaftesbury (SHB) 820.00p -0.85%
888 Holdings (888) 155.30p -0.77%
Drax Group (DRX) 300.20p -0.73%
Riverstone Energy Limited (RSE) 844.10p -0.69%
Apax Global Alpha Limited (APAX) 146.00p -0.68%