London open: FX markets, metals prices in the spotlight
London stocks were little changed at the start of trading on Monday, with foreign exchange markets and weakness in metals prices in focus following remarks from top economic policymakers on both sides of the Atlantic over the weekend and the release of data showing a dip in Chinese services sector activity at the start of 2017.
As of 0828 GMT the FTSE 100 was higher by just 1.34 points to 7,189.64.
In remarks to Germany´s Tagesspiegel, on Sunday, German finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said he had told the European Central Bank that its loose monetary policy would result in an overly weak euro for his country.
"The euro exchange rate is, strictly speaking, too low for the German economy's competitive position," he reportedly said.
In parallel, on Friday evening the president of the San Francisco Fed, John Williams, sounded a 'hawkish' note on interest rates, saying he would prefer to not be too cautious when it came to tightening policy.
His statements on Bloomberg TV saw the euro/dollar slip 0.2% to 1.2458 early on Monday morning.
Overnight Caixin reported that China´s composite purchasing managers' index dipped from 53.5 in December - a 45-month high - to 52.2 in January as the country´s services PMI slipped from 53.4 to 53.1.
Dr.Zhengsheng Zhong, director of macroeconomic analysis at CEBM Group said: "The economy is unlikely to maintain the pace of expansion seen in the fourth quarter of last year given that the manufacturing sector’s willingness to restock has declined. China’s economic growth may decelerate after the first quarter of this year."
There were no major UK data releases due.
In corporate news, National Grid on Monday said it was spending £35m to buy back up to 3.5m shares.
The company said the sole purpose of the exercise was to reduce its share capital as part of its management of the dilution resulting from the take-up of its scrip dividend offer for the interim dividend paid in January 2017.
The buy-back programme will be managed by Merrill Lynch International and will run until February 17. The purchased shares will be held as treasury shares, National Grid said.
Budget airline easyJet posted a rise in traffic and the load factor in January.
Passenger numbers were up 11% from the same month last year to 4.75m as the load factor – which gauges how full the flights are – edged up to 86.2% from 85%.
On a rolling 12-month basis, traffic grew 6.9% to 74.9m, while the load factor nudged down to 91.5% from 91.6%.
Emergency repairs business Homeserve has appointed David Bower as chief financial officer with immediate effect and will he also join the board and executive committee.
Bower, who joined Homeserve in 2005, was previously interim chief financial officer and held a number of senior divisional and group finance roles including six years as group finance director.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,190.21 0.03%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 18,360.71 -0.28%
techMARK (TASX) 3,277.20 -0.10%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 7,130.00p 3.94%
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,487.00p 1.23%
Mediclinic International (MDC) 797.00p 1.08%
Glencore (GLEN) 312.65p 1.02%
Barclays (BARC) 230.90p 0.90%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,343.00p 0.83%
TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 1,188.00p 0.76%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 66.35p 0.76%
Imperial Brands (IMB) 3,765.00p 0.74%
BAE Systems (BA.) 587.50p 0.69%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Dixons Carphone (DC.) 299.30p -1.74%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 478.40p -1.30%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 170.40p -1.27%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 336.10p -1.21%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 496.40p -1.02%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 262.40p -0.91%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 7,068.00p -0.86%
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 226.60p -0.83%
DCC (DCC) 6,370.00p -0.78%
Persimmon (PSN) 1,956.00p -0.76%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 157.10p 2.55%
McCarthy & Stone (MCS) 171.40p 2.15%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 245.80p 2.08%
AO World (AO.) 161.00p 1.90%
Redefine International (RDI) 39.34p 1.73%
Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 507.00p 1.62%
Countryside Properties (CSP) 237.40p 1.45%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 170.50p 1.25%
Evraz (EVR) 237.60p 1.19%
NMC Health (NMC) 1,740.00p 1.16%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
PayPoint (PAY) 976.00p -3.08%
Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 1,071.00p -3.08%
Sophos Group (SOPH) 253.90p -2.83%
William Hill (WMH) 268.10p -2.69%
Wood Group (John) (WG.) 822.50p -1.97%
esure Group (ESUR) 200.80p -1.95%
Millennium & Copthorne Hotels (MLC) 418.40p -1.88%
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 358.00p -1.86%
Ladbrokes Coral Group (LCL) 124.20p -1.58%
Redrow (RDW) 450.50p -1.42%