London open: Stocks retreat as investors digest Trump policies
London stocks fell in early trade, taking their cue from an uninspiring Asian session as investors digested US President Donald Trump’s curb on refugees and his travel ban on arrivals from Muslim countries.
At 0830 GMT, the FTSE 100 was down 0.6% to 7,142.37.
On Friday, Trump put a 120-day hold on allowing refugees into the country, an indefinite ban on any refugees from Syria and a 90-day ban on citizens from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. The ban also applies to anyone with dual nationality including any of those countries.
Spreadex’s Connor Campbell said: “Pretty much everything slipped into the red this morning, the markets reacting to the fresh bout of instability brought on by Donald Trump over the weekend. Though the Trump rally may have lifted the markets to their current peaks, the global outrage that has greeted the President’s first week in office, the most recent instance being the well-placed disgust at his Muslim travel ban, is now beginning suppress investors’ appetites especially since, as mentioned, the indices are trading so high.
“To be fair to the fake-tanned commander in chief, the week’s cluttered economic calendar is likely also contributing to the negative start. Wednesday sees the first Trump-era Fed meeting, something that is expected to tee up a March rate-hike, while Thursday brings with it a Bank of England get-together. All this before Friday completes a trifecta of heavy-hitters with the latest US non-farm jobs report. That’s going to be a lot for the markets to process in the back end of the week, explaining why things might be a bit jittery this morning.”
In corporate news, FTSE 100 telecoms group Vodafone was in the black after confirming it is in talks over merging its Indian business with Idea Cellular, which is part of the Aditya Birla Group.
Engineer WS Atkins was a higher riser following a report in The Times that it has been approached by US company CH2M for a possible $4bn merger.
On the downside, Randgold Resources fell despite saying it was confident of topping production guidance of 670,000 oz of gold for 2016 from its Loulo-Gounkoto mining complex in Mali, with another record quarter at the end of the year.
Lloyds Banking Group was also in the red after the UK government cut its stake in the bank to just under 5%, or 3.57bn shares, as it looks to take the bank private again in the next few months. This is down from 4.24bn shares previously.
There are no major UK data releases due, but in the US, personal consumption expenditure is at 1330 GMT, while pending home sales figures are at 1500 GMT.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,142.37 -0.59%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 18,125.17 -0.36%
techMARK (TASX) 3,234.77 0.06%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Vodafone Group (VOD) 198.80p 2.82%
DCC (DCC) 6,280.00p 1.45%
ITV (ITV) 207.40p 1.32%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 904.00p 0.50%
BAE Systems (BA.) 593.50p 0.17%
Shire Plc (SHP) 4,394.00p 0.11%
Worldpay Group (WPG) 282.30p 0.11%
TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 1,161.00p 0.09%
BT Group (BT.A) 303.05p 0.08%
London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) 3,101.00p 0.03%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Old Mutual (OML) 207.60p -2.63%
Mediclinic International (MDC) 791.50p -2.34%
Diageo (DGE) 2,207.00p -1.65%
Tesco (TSCO) 203.15p -1.65%
Mondi (MNDI) 1,744.00p -1.64%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,347.50p -1.57%
Aviva (AV.) 478.10p -1.52%
easyJet (EZJ) 960.00p -1.44%
Barclays (BARC) 227.30p -1.43%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 339.40p -1.34%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Atkins (WS) (ATK) 1,473.00p 5.21%
Dignity (DTY) 2,497.00p 2.59%
Redefine International (RDI) 40.21p 2.34%
P2P Global Investments (P2P) 815.00p 2.13%
Hastings Group Holdings (HSTG) 229.00p 1.69%
Electrocomponents (ECM) 491.80p 1.65%
Synthomer (SYNT) 441.60p 1.56%
Barr (A.G.) (BAG) 509.00p 1.39%
Brewin Dolphin Holdings (BRW) 314.44p 1.30%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 144.80p 1.12%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Aggreko (AGK) 1,019.00p -3.78%
Allied Minds (ALM) 381.70p -3.02%
Drax Group (DRX) 372.60p -2.44%
PZ Cussons (PZC) 296.60p -2.43%
Meggitt (MGGT) 419.60p -2.28%
Investec (INVP) 563.50p -2.00%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 295.40p -1.53%
Aberdeen Asset Management (ADN) 267.00p -1.51%
Petra Diamonds Ltd.(DI) (PDL) 146.40p -1.48%
Thomas Cook Group (TCG) 85.50p -1.44%