London open: Stocks rise ahead of G7 coronavirus conference call

At 0835 GMT, the FTSE 100 was up 2.1% at 6,793.51.

Spreadex analyst Connor Campbell said it was a sign of just how bad the final week of February was that the Dow’s 1,297 point increase still leaves it almost 3,000 points below where it was on Valentine’s Day.

"Nevertheless, after a weekend full of stimulus-suggesting statements, news that the central bank chiefs and finance ministers of the G7 would be having a conference call to discuss an action plan -like a fiscal version of the Avengers - designed to combat the coronavirus crisis was enough to point the markets in the right direction," he said.

"It helped that the Reserve Bank of Australia has already given the G7 an example of what they can do, cutting its cash rate by 25 bps to a record low of 0.5%.

"Following a thoroughly mixed Monday, the European indices shared in the Dow’s optimism, without getting quite as excited - after all, any enthusiasm will have been tempered by the WHO warning the world is in ‘uncharted territory’.”

Campbell warned that if the G7 fail to announce a coherent, co-ordinated plan of attack, gains could unravel fast. He pointed to a Reuters report suggesting that the draft statement currently being worked on doesn’t call for such action.

G7 finance ministers are due to take part in a conference call on the economic impact of the coronavirus at 1200 GMT.

In equity markets, travel company British Airways parent IAG and travel company TUI advanced, having fallen sharply on Monday.

Housebuilders were also on the rise, with Taylor Wimpey and Persimmon racking up strong gains.

Aggreko powered ahead as it posted a 9% rise in full-year pre-tax profit, while 4Imprint, Direct Line and Rotork were all higher after results.

On the downside, Sirius Minerals retreated ahead of a shareholder vote later in the day on its proposed takeover by Anglo American.

Greggs was also weaker as it reported a rise in full-year profits but warned winter storms in the UK had caused a significant slowdown in February sales and an cited uncertain outlook due to the coronavirus.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 6,793.51 2.08%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,727.98 2.21%
techMARK (TASX) 3,866.28 1.90%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 210.80p 3.89%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 3,113.50p 3.77%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 449.40p 3.76%
Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 604.50p 3.69%
Persimmon (PSN) 2,944.00p 3.63%
Aveva Group (AVV) 4,550.00p 3.27%
Rentokil Initial (RTO) 529.20p 3.12%
Legal & General Group (LGEN) 262.40p 3.10%
Centrica (CNA) 75.56p 3.08%
Smurfit Kappa Group (SKG) 2,686.00p 3.07%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Pearson (PSON) 549.00p -0.18%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 2,403.00p -0.17%
Intertek Group (ITRK) 5,346.00p 0.41%
Unilever (ULVR) 4,357.00p 0.86%
Auto Trader Group (AUTO) 523.80p 0.89%
HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 525.40p 1.02%
Croda International (CRDA) 4,738.00p 1.02%
BAE Systems (BA.) 617.60p 1.11%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 557.00p 1.20%
London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) 7,994.00p 1.34%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 314.00p 7.90%
Aggreko (AGK) 726.60p 7.68%
4Imprint Group (FOUR) 2,900.00p 6.62%
John Laing Group (JLG) 360.80p 5.50%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 34.27p 5.45%
Polar Capital Technology Trust (PCT) 1,608.00p 4.69%
Direct Line Insurance Group (DLG) 326.50p 4.58%
Premier Oil (PMO) 80.26p 4.48%
Network International Holdings (NETW) 571.00p 4.39%
Plus500 Ltd (DI) (PLUS) 979.60p 4.37%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Sirius Minerals (SXX) 4.00p -7.83%
Fresnillo (FRES) 593.60p -4.26%
Bakkavor Group (BAKK) 104.00p -1.70%
Contour Global (GLO) 173.00p -1.26%
Hiscox Limited (DI) (HSX) 1,263.00p -1.02%
Greggs (GRG) 2,086.00p -0.19%
Ibstock (IBST) 280.20p -0.14%
Oxford Instruments (OXIG) 1,406.00p 0.00%
Pantheon International (PIN) 2,110.00p 0.00%
Sequoia Economic Infrastructure Income Fund Limited (SEQI) 112.80p 0.00%