London open: Stocks little changed in holiday-thinned volumes
Stocks in London were little changed in early trade as volumes dwindled in the run-up to the Christmas break, following policy announcements from the Bank of Japan and the Reserve Bank of Australia.
At 0830 GMT, the FTSE 100 was flat at 7,015.84. Meanwhile, oil prices were steady, with West Texas Intermediate down 0.2% to $52.02 a barrel and Brent crude up 0.1% to $54.97.
Spreadex’s Connor Campbell said: “The European markets got off to another slow start this Tuesday, investors struggling to find a reason to send the region’s indices any higher.
“The FTSE once again lingered around the 7,000 mark, lacking any real impetus to push towards its all-time peak from earlier in the year. The pound, meanwhile, has continued to fall against the dollar; it now sits under $1.24, its worst price in around the month. Against the euro sterling has fared a bit better, remaining just above the €1.19 mark.”
At the same time, investors were digesting a series of events that took place late on Monday.
A truck ploughed into a Christmas market in Berlin, killing twelve people and injuring 48 in what is suspected to have been a terrorist attack.
In Turkey, the Russian ambassador was shot dead by an off-duty policeman who appeared to be protesting Russia’s involvement in Aleppo, while in Zurich, three people were injured in a gun attack at a mosque.
Market participants also mulled over policy announcements from the Bank of Japan and the Reserve Bank of Australia.
The BoJ kept its monetary policy unchanged on Tuesday, as expected, maintaining its target for a negative 0.1% interest on some excess reserves and the 0% 10-year government bond yield.
However, the BoJ sounded a more upbeat note on the economy, underpinning expectations that its next move will be a hike rather than a cut to interest rates.
Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of Australia also stood pat on interest rates, as expected, at a historic low of 1.5%, and hinted that it was happy to keep rates where they are for the moment. The RBA stopped short of mentioning a recession but suggested the door was open to a rate cut in the New Year.
In corporate news, Lloyds Banking Group was in the black after announcing the acquisition of credit card business MBNA from Bank of America for £1.9bn.
Pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline was little changed after saying it achieved positive results from a phase three HIV study, which assessed the efficiency of a two-drug regimen.
Electra Private Equity edged higher after saying it will receive around £106m from the sale of its stake in Innovia by investment manager Epiris LLP.
Property, residential, construction and services company Kier Group advanced as it confirmed it has been awarded a 15-year contract, valued at £140m, for repair and maintenance services on Area 13 of the Highways England network.
Digital payment systems provider Paysafe surged after announcing plans to begin an inaugural share buyback programme of up to £100m.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,015.84 -0.02%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 17,835.79 0.30%
techMARK (TASX) 3,344.49 0.12%
FTSE 100 - Risers
3i Group (III) 696.50p 1.53%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 63.36p 1.29%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 466.50p 1.15%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 155.30p 1.04%
Legal & General Group (LGEN) 243.00p 1.00%
Convatec Group (CTEC) 231.10p 0.92%
Mediclinic International (MDC) 745.00p 0.88%
easyJet (EZJ) 1,043.00p 0.87%
Barclays (BARC) 223.95p 0.86%
Tesco (TSCO) 204.00p 0.84%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 5,570.00p -2.37%
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,096.00p -1.62%
HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 652.60p -0.82%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 656.50p -0.76%
Royal Dutch Shell 'A' (RDSA) 2,185.50p -0.66%
WPP (WPP) 1,771.00p -0.62%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 661.80p -0.59%
Glencore (GLEN) 266.85p -0.58%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 6,762.00p -0.47%
Sky (SKY) 991.00p -0.40%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Paysafe Group (PAYS) 364.60p 6.58%
Evraz (EVR) 222.00p 4.23%
UBM (UBM) 719.50p 2.20%
Serco Group (SRP) 143.90p 1.91%
Crest Nicholson Holdings (CRST) 466.20p 1.90%
Inmarsat (ISAT) 751.50p 1.90%
Barr (A.G.) (BAG) 494.20p 1.58%
Drax Group (DRX) 356.60p 1.57%
Fidelity European Values (FEV) 180.70p 1.52%
CYBG (CYBG) 271.80p 1.42%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
CMC Markets (CMCX) 111.20p -3.05%
Allied Minds (ALM) 426.00p -2.63%
Rank Group (RNK) 192.30p -2.29%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 193.20p -2.23%
Synthomer (SYNT) 370.45p -1.82%
Nostrum Oil & Gas (NOG) 415.50p -1.68%
Acacia Mining (ACA) 348.00p -1.47%
Softcat (SCT) 296.10p -1.27%
Just Eat (JE.) 569.00p -1.13%
Pets at Home Group (PETS) 230.70p -1.07%