London close: Stocks mixed as traders keep Brexit in focus
London stocks closed in a mixed state on Tuesday, with Brexit firmly in focus as the UK agreed with the European Union to drop controversial clauses from the Internal Market Bill.
The FTSE 100 ended the session up 0.05% at 6,558.82, while the FTSE 250 fell 0.3% to 19,870.49.
Sterling was weaker against its major trading pairs, last falling 0.19% on the dollar to $1.3355 and retreating 0.24% from the euro to €1.1024.
The co-chairs of the EU-UK Joint Committee, Michael Gove and Maros Sefcovic, met on Monday to discuss outstanding issues relating to the implementation of the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement, and earlier on Tuesday confirmed those talks had been successful.
In a joint statement, Gove and Sefcovic said agreement had been reached in principle on all issues, with particular regard to the protocol on Northern Ireland and Ireland.
"The protocol protects the Good Friday Agreement in all its dimensions, maintaining peace, stability and prosperity on the island of Ireland," the statement said.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson was now set to meet EU Commission president Ursula Von Der Leyen in Brussels on Wednesday or Thursday.
“The major indices are mixed as uncertainty is circulating with respect to the UK-EU trade situation,” said CMC Markets analyst David Madden.
“As a gesture of good faith, the UK will withdraw controversial elements of the internal markets bill so that should help create an environment for a potential deal to be brokered.
“Tomorrow, Prime Minister Johnson will go to Brussels so the negotiations will be in centre stage.”
Madden said the mood in the markets on Tuesday was subdued, as Wednesday would most likely be the main focus of the trade talks.
As far as the pandemic is concerned, Madden described Tuesday as “historic”, as Pfizer and BioNtech’s Covid-19 vaccination was administered to a patient in the UK - the first in the world.
“The news made a huge amount of headlines but there was a relatively calm reaction by stocks because the vaccine news has already been priced in.
“The potential Covid-19 vaccine being developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University received praise from the Lancet medical journal, but it would appear that it needs more work.”
In equity markets, Asia-focused banks HSBC and Standard Chartered were both weaker, by 2.71% and 1.19%, respectively.
InterContinental Hotels was knocked 3.57% lower by a downgrade to ‘underperform’ at Jefferies.
The oil giants fell, with BP down 0.44% and Shell off 2.58%, while engine maker Rolls-Royce retreated 3.52%.
Energean slid 10.15% after Third Point Hellenic Recovery placed around six million shares in the exploration and production company.
On the upside, equipment rental firm Ashtead advanced 2.2% after it said full-year results were set to be ahead of its previous guidance.
SSE rose 2.9% and National Grid added 1.42% as Ofgem said it would cut the amount of money that energy networks can give to shareholders by less than initially set out.
The energy regulator said companies would be allowed to pay a return on equity of 4.3%, up from a previous 3.95%.
Plumbing and heating products supplier Ferguson gained 0.31% after it reported a rise in first-quarter core earnings and revenue, driven by a strong performance in all regions.
Virgin Money UK was on the front foot by 4.19%, after an initiation at ‘buy’ at Liberum.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 6,558.82 0.05%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,870.49 -0.30%
techMARK (TASX) 4,072.94 -0.49%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Smith (DS) (SMDS) 362.10p 3.87%
Experian (EXPN) 2,783.00p 3.77%
Smurfit Kappa Group (SKG) 3,472.00p 3.39%
3i Group (III) 1,165.50p 3.37%
Intertek Group (ITRK) 5,878.00p 3.12%
SSE (SSE) 1,404.00p 2.97%
Bunzl (BNZL) 2,416.00p 2.90%
Halma (HLMA) 2,343.00p 2.81%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 2,250.00p 2.65%
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 2,386.00p 2.62%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 4,770.00p -3.69%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 161.75p -3.29%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 127.05p -2.90%
HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 400.40p -2.71%
Compass Group (CPG) 1,450.50p -2.42%
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 4,316.00p -2.38%
Flutter Entertainment (FLTR) 14,685.00p -2.10%
Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 2,279.00p -1.98%
Just Eat Takeaway.Com N.V. (CDI) (JET) 7,526.00p -1.54%
Intermediate Capital Group (ICP) 1,655.00p -1.49%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Virgin Money UK (VMUK) 135.40p 4.19%
Sirius Real Estate Ltd. (SRE) 95.00p 3.94%
TP ICAP (TCAP) 234.20p 3.63%
Oxford Biomedica (OXB) 849.00p 3.54%
Frasers Group (FRAS) 437.80p 3.30%
G4S (GFS) 255.30p 3.15%
Diploma (DPLM) 2,192.00p 3.10%
IMI (IMI) 1,168.00p 2.91%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 126.40p 2.76%
Ninety One (N91) 225.80p 2.73%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Energean (ENOG) 706.30p -10.04%
C&C Group (CCR) 228.50p -5.97%
Greencore Group (GNC) 116.90p -5.42%
easyJet (EZJ) 851.60p -5.08%
Babcock International Group (BAB) 314.10p -4.82%
Avon Rubber (AVON) 3,780.00p -4.55%
Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 4,664.00p -4.50%
Micro Focus International (MCRO) 470.90p -3.96%
Meggitt (MGGT) 433.50p -3.60%
Plus500 Ltd (DI) (PLUS) 1,501.00p -3.60%