London open: UK stocks hit new record high on China rate cut

UK stocks rose modestly to a new record high on Monday morning on the back of gains in the banking and mining sectors, tracking a strong performance on Asian markets overnight after a rate cut in China.

The FTSE 100 was up 0.3% at 6,969.46 within the opening hour, having risen as high as 6,972.01 in early deals. That was ahead of the previous intraday all-time high of 6,967.24 reached on Friday.

Asian markets rallied Monday after China’s central bank cut interest rates, driving stock indices higher across the region on hopes that Beijing will take a supportive stance on ensuring growth.

The People's Bank of China (PBoC) cut its benchmark interest rate by a quarter point for the second time in three months, to 5.35%, and lowered its one-year benchmark deposit rate by the same amount to 2.5%.

Contrasting data reports on Chinese manufacturing activity in February were also released overnight, but they broadly indicated an up-trend in growth for the sector. Both the HSBC/Markit and government purchasing managers’ indices (PMIs) both came in ahead of expectations, though the latter continued to signal a contraction.

Manufacturing PMIs were also due out in the UK, Eurozone and US later on Monday, along with UK mortgage approvals, Eurozone inflation and US personal income/spending figures.

Banks and miners provide a lift

Banking stocks such as Barclays and RBS were among the best performers early on as share prices rebounded after a weak outing last week following some poorly-received annual results. 2014 figures from Barclays, the last UK lender to report, are due out on Tuesday.

Miners were also on the rise, including Glencore, BHP Billiton and Anglo American, after the rate cut and improved economic data in China.

Intertek, the product testing and certification outfit, was higher after forecasting a improvement in organic revenue growth in 2015 after a 0.6% decline last year. Profits were down 4.7% in 2014, though the company still lifted its dividend by 6.7%

Oil stocks such as Tullow and Shell were trading lower as crude prices weakened with Brent down 1% at $61.96 a barrel.

Asset manager Aberdeen was lower after receiving a downgrade to ‘neutral’ at JPMorgan Cazenove.

Market Movers
techMARK 3,167.41 +0.23%
FTSE 100 6,969.46 +0.33%
FTSE 250 17,324.96 +0.30%

FTSE 100 - Risers
Intertek Group (ITRK) 2,613.00p +3.28%
Smiths Group (SMIN) 1,178.00p +1.99%
Barclays (BARC) 261.90p +1.95%
Capita (CPI) 1,210.00p +1.85%
Glencore (GLEN) 305.55p +1.77%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,230.00p +1.65%
ITV (ITV) 228.90p +1.60%
Wolseley (WOS) 4,034.00p +1.59%
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 372.60p +1.47%
Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 1,146.00p +1.42%

FTSE 100 - Fallers
Tullow Oil (TLW) 381.40p -1.52%
Shire Plc (SHP) 5,215.00p -1.14%
Aberdeen Asset Management (ADN) 463.60p -1.07%
Weir Group (WEIR) 1,686.00p -1.06%
Aviva (AV.) 534.50p -0.83%
Friends Life Group Limited (FLG) 408.70p -0.58%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 943.50p -0.58%
Associated British Foods (ABF) 3,109.00p -0.51%
BT Group (BT.A) 453.50p -0.48%
Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 2,195.50p -0.45%

FTSE 250 - Risers
Afren (AFR) 10.25p +19.12%
Allied Minds (ALM) 642.00p +7.90%
Oxford Instruments (OXIG) 788.00p +4.16%
Keller Group (KLR) 1,049.00p +3.55%
Man Group (EMG) 198.40p +3.55%
Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 908.00p +3.24%
Ted Baker (TED) 2,624.00p +2.38%
Bovis Homes Group (BVS) 988.50p +2.28%
National Express Group (NEX) 290.30p +2.18%
Bellway (BWY) 2,033.00p +2.11%

FTSE 250 - Fallers
Amlin (AML) 509.00p -3.87%
Ultra Electronics Holdings (ULE) 1,750.00p -2.78%
Aveva Group (AVV) 1,565.00p -1.88%
Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 1,027.00p -1.72%
Senior (SNR) 334.80p -1.67%
Ladbrokes (LAD) 116.80p -1.60%
Cairn Energy (CNE) 200.40p -1.52%
Serco Group (SRP) 219.10p -1.48%
Moneysupermarket.com Group (MONY) 269.70p -1.46%
Drax Group (DRX) 407.60p -1.45%