London open: Stocks gain on China stimulus hopes

UK equities climbed on Monday as investors shrugged off another negative session in Asia.

Chinese stocks declined as oil prices continued to fall and a report over the weekend showed producer prices remained in deflation.

“While China’s Yuan currency was fixed slightly firmer, note Saturday’s Chinese inflation data which saw consumer price inflation edge up as expected to 1.6% but producer prices remain under pressure and fail to deliver the uptick expected by consensus,” according to Mike van Dulken and Augustin Eden at Accendo Markets.

“This data will only add to hopes of more intervention by the People’s Bank of China to both buoy the equity markets as well as the flagging growth that is concerning investors worldwide.”

At 0902 GMT Brent crude fell 2.2% to $32.80 per barrel while West Texas Intermediate dipped 2.06% to $32.49 per barrel amid tensions in the Middle East and concerns of an oversupply in the market.

Still to come, a report from Sentix on Eurozone investor confidence is due at 0930 GMT, the US labour market conditions index is released at 1500 GMT while Federal Reserve policymaker Robert Kaplan speaks after the close.

Company-wise, Taylor Wimpey gained after saying 2015 was a year of steady growth, and has indicated it is starting the new year with a strong order book. Total home completions in the UK for the year to 31 December 2015 increased by 7% to 13,341, including 2,509 affordable homes, according to a trading statement.

Savills jumped after the real estate firm said underlying full year results for the full year will be ahead of previous expectations boosted by its investment management business although it warned that global economic uncertainty and rising interest rates would result in a “tempering” of transaction volumes.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 5,932.46 0.34%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 16,697.13 -0.21%
techMARK (TASX) 3,167.39 0.15%

FTSE 100 - Risers

BAE Systems (BA.) 532.00p 2.41%
Standard Life (SL.) 371.60p 2.37%
Sage Group (SGE) 590.50p 2.25%
GKN (GKN) 283.30p 1.76%
Whitbread (WTB) 4,191.00p 1.72%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 514.20p 1.72%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 70.03p 1.68%
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 288.10p 1.62%
BP (BP.) 333.80p 1.55%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 245.50p 1.49%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 2,161.00p -1.64%
Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 1,361.00p -1.16%
St James's Place (STJ) 914.00p -0.81%
Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,146.00p -0.78%
Severn Trent (SVT) 2,124.00p -0.75%
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,362.00p -0.69%
Provident Financial (PFG) 3,156.00p -0.69%
Persimmon (PSN) 1,980.00p -0.60%
Relx plc (REL) 1,162.00p -0.60%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 4,324.00p -0.57%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Laird (LRD) 362.60p 10.21%
Home Retail Group (HOME) 146.00p 5.87%
Evraz (EVR) 65.30p 3.65%
Ashmore Group (ASHM) 245.90p 2.08%
Drax Group (DRX) 217.00p 1.69%
Savills (SVS) 858.50p 1.60%
DFS Furniture (DFS) 315.80p 1.51%
OneSavings Bank (OSB) 334.80p 1.30%
Aldermore Group (ALD) 222.00p 1.19%
Wood Group (John) (WG.) 556.50p 1.18%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Ted Baker (TED) 2,782.00p -3.07%
SSP Group (SSPG) 292.20p -2.92%
QinetiQ Group (QQ.) 253.80p -2.65%
Hays (HAS) 132.90p -2.64%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 220.70p -2.56%
Fidelity China Special Situations (FCSS) 126.70p -2.54%
Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group (JLT) 915.50p -1.98%
Investec (INVP) 424.40p -1.94%
Rightmove (RMV) 4,019.00p -1.93%
British Empire Trust (BTEM) 438.00p -1.90%