London open: Stocks rally ahead of services PMI
London stocks rose in early trade on Tuesday, boosted by a strong showing from oil giants BP and Shell, as investors eyed the latest reading on the UK services sector.
At 0830 BST, the FTSE 100 was up 1.6% at 5,846.56.
Spreadex analyst Connor Campbell said: "Reverting back to the optimism that started to creep in towards the end of April - before Donald Trump opened his big mouth and unleashed an election-eyeing attack on China - the Europe markets all rebounded on Tuesday.
"With Boris Johnson likely to unveil some form of lockdown plan this week, Italy and Spain easing restrictions, and California to follow suit on Friday, investors decided to turn away from the US-China tensions to focus on the idea that the worst part of the pandemic may be approaching its end."
On the data front, Markit’s final services PMI for April is at 0930 BST. "Given that the flash reading came in at 12.3, it really can’t afford to be revised any lower," said Campbell.
Data out earlier showed that UK car sales slid 97% in April to their lowest monthly level since February 1946 as factories and dealerships closed due to the coronavirus pandemic. According to preliminary figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, just 4,000 new vehicles were registered last month, compared to 161,000 in April last year.
In equity markets, cruise operator Carnival was the standout gainer, having fallen sharply on Monday, as it said it had extended the suspension of its P&O Cruises operations in Australia and New Zealand to August 31, in response to continuing travel restrictions due to the impact of Covid-19.
Shell and BP were in the black as oil prices rose on storage hopes, with West Texas Intermediate up 9.7% at $22.37 a barrel and Brent crude 6.7% higher at $29.04.
Low-cost airline Wizz Air flew a little higher despite saying that April traffic plunged to almost zero as the pandemic and government travel bans hammered passenger traffic. Wizz reported a 97.1% fall in capacity to 104,956 seats and 97.6% plunge in passenger bookings to 78,389.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 5,846.56 1.61%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 16,167.18 1.35%
techMARK (TASX) 3,540.59 1.12%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Carnival (CCL) 1,020.50p 5.82%
Glencore (GLEN) 144.78p 5.25%
BP (BP.) 315.30p 4.89%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,413.20p 4.34%
Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 1,274.40p 4.32%
easyJet (EZJ) 549.40p 4.25%
Royal Dutch Shell 'A' (RDSA) 1,318.00p 4.16%
Compass Group (CPG) 1,295.50p 3.60%
Informa (INF) 430.20p 3.41%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 210.80p 3.38%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 2,364.00p -0.80%
Unilever (ULVR) 4,031.00p -0.57%
RSA Insurance Group (RSA) 351.90p -0.57%
Meggitt (MGGT) 265.70p -0.49%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 6,594.00p -0.39%
Pearson (PSON) 449.30p -0.16%
Bunzl (BNZL) 1,658.50p 0.06%
National Grid (NG.) 939.80p 0.09%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 8,369.00p 0.10%
Croda International (CRDA) 4,846.00p 0.10%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Hyve Group (HYVE) 20.70p 7.81%
WH Smith (SMWH) 1,145.00p 5.63%
Cineworld Group (CINE) 56.96p 5.36%
Serco Group (SRP) 132.70p 4.74%
Energean Oil & Gas (ENOG) 665.00p 4.72%
Smithson Investment Trust (SSON) 1,334.00p 4.22%
Royal Mail (RMG) 175.80p 4.15%
Synthomer (SYNT) 278.60p 4.11%
National Express Group (NEX) 246.00p 4.06%
CLS Holdings (CLI) 192.00p 3.78%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Bakkavor Group (BAKK) 73.10p -2.53%
Mediclinic International (MDC) 242.40p -2.49%
Go-Ahead Group (GOG) 1,230.00p -2.46%
Ashmore Group (ASHM) 363.60p -1.62%
Virgin Money UK (VMUK) 72.00p -1.07%
Tate & Lyle (TATE) 657.40p -0.90%
Savills (SVS) 982.50p -0.76%
AVI Global Trust (AGT) 596.00p -0.67%
4Imprint Group (FOUR) 1,850.00p -0.64%
Murray International Trust (MYI) 954.00p -0.52%