London open: Late Santa Rally puts UK stocks on track for two-week high

UK stocks rose for the fifth straight session on Monday and were set to hit a two-week high with the so-called ‘Santa Rally’ finally taking hold ahead of a shortened trading week.

London’s FTSE 100 was trading 0.8% higher at 6,598 in early deals. It has not closed above this mark since 8 December.

The index surged 4% over the past week, rising nearly 6% over the past four sessions alone. This was the Footsie’s best weekly performance since December 2011 after the Federal Reserve promised to be “patient” about the first rate rise and markets rebounded strongly after a recent sell-off.

“This ‘patient’ approach to policy normalisation as well as a belated realisation that lower oil prices aren’t necessarily such a bad thing, particularly in terms of their potential impact on global [growth] and consumer sentiment, has seen a significant rebound in the last four days,” said analyst Michael Hewson from CMC Markets UK.

“As we head towards the Christmas break and a short week, the main focus going forward is likely to remain on the recent volatility in the oil price,” he said.

Brent crude for February delivery was up 2% on Monday at $62.61 a barrel, as it continues to rebound after dropping below the $60 mark last week for the first time since mid-2009.

UK markets are open as normal until Wednesday when they close half a day early for Christmas Eve. They will not open again until Monday 29th December.

While trading volumes are expected to be low over the next few days, with many traders already on their festive holidays, there’s still some economic data due out for those remaining investors to take in. Final readings on third-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) in the UK and US are both due, as well as a raft of US data including durable goods orders, consumer confidence, new homes sales and personal incomes.

Energy stocks rise

Oil producers such as Shell, BP, Tullow and BHP Billiton were making decent gains on the FTSE 100 as shares tracked the price of crude higher. FTSE 250 peers Afren and Ophir Energy were also performing well.

Mining stocks were also providing a lift, including Fresnillo, Anglo American, Polymetal and Vedanta Resources. Randgold, however, was bucking the trend as the stock registered heavy losses early on.

Home improvement retailer Kingfisher edged higher after agreeing to sell a controlling 70% stake in its B&Q China business to Wumei Holdings for £140m.

Kier Group was in demand after its joint venture with Clancy Docwra was named as the preferred bidder for a £1bn Thames Water infrastructure project. The contract, which an estimated value to the KCD joint venture of £500m over the next five years, will run for up to 15 years.

Market Movers
techMARK 2,949.80 +0.44%
FTSE 100 6,597.94 +0.80%
FTSE 250 15,944.43 +0.35%

FTSE 100 - Risers
Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 2,282.00p +2.68%
Royal Dutch Shell 'A' (RDSA) 2,214.50p +2.05%
Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,111.00p +2.02%
BP (BP.) 421.20p +1.99%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 944.40p +1.88%
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 3,408.00p +1.70%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 431.20p +1.65%
Babcock International Group (BAB) 1,072.00p +1.61%
Severn Trent (SVT) 2,044.00p +1.39%
Experian (EXPN) 1,103.00p +1.38%

FTSE 100 - Fallers
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 4,320.00p -2.51%
TUI AG Reg Shs (Post- 16/12/14)(DI) (TUIJ) 1,066.00p -0.65%
easyJet (EZJ) 1,644.00p -0.48%
Intu Properties (INTU) 334.10p -0.42%
Next (NXT) 6,475.00p -0.31%
Dixons Carphone (DC.) 460.20p -0.30%
Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 175.80p -0.23%
Travis Perkins (TPK) 1,821.00p -0.16%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 468.80p -0.04%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 3,499.50p -0.03%

FTSE 250 - Risers
Afren (AFR) 50.20p +5.53%
Nostrum Oil & Gas (NOG) 440.20p +4.81%
Ophir Energy (OPHR) 141.60p +3.89%
Hunting (HTG) 545.50p +3.31%
Polymetal International (POLY) 567.50p +3.18%
Home Retail Group (HOME) 197.70p +3.13%
Wood Group (John) (WG.) 627.00p +3.12%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 602.50p +2.82%
Evraz (EVR) 133.20p +2.38%
Bank of Georgia Holdings (BGEO) 1,930.00p +2.17%

FTSE 250 - Fallers
Pets at Home Group (PETS) 198.20p -6.42%
Bwin.party Digital Entertainment (BPTY) 111.70p -5.34%
IP Group (IPO) 216.80p -4.87%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 55.95p -3.87%
Zoopla Property Group (WI) (ZPLA) 202.40p -3.66%
Alent (ALNT) 327.50p -2.67%
Allied Minds (ALM) 335.00p -2.40%
Spire Healthcare Group (SPI) 339.50p -2.30%
Brit (BRIT) 263.40p -2.26%
Countrywide (CWD) 415.00p -2.17%