LONDON (SHARECAST) - Supermarket chains Morrisons and Tesco were both high risers on Monday. It announced in the morning that it has appointed a managing director of its convenience arm - an area where the company has been notably lacking compared to its rivals - saying it is "ready to expand at pace" its M Local business. In line with this move, Morrisons has awared logistics firm Wincanton a multi-million pound five-year contract to operate its first ever dedicated UK convenience distribution centre in London.
The unit holders of the Tesco Lotus Retail Growth Freehold and Leasehold Property Fund (TLGF) have approved the proposed injection of five additional Tesco Lotus-anchored shopping malls into the Thailand-listed property fund.
BG Group was also on the rise following reports that Tokyo Gas is discussing the possibility of acquiring a stake of less than 10% in BG's Australian liquefied natural gas project.
Meanwhile, steel giant Evraz was a heavy faller after Nomura revised its steel demand growth forecast from 3% to 0% for 2013, saying that it expects "further weakness" in the sector. "We expect continued weakness in the sector as investors are unlikely to buy the equities into what is already expected to be a challenging 3Q results season," the broker said. Mining peers Vedanta, ENRC and Kazakhmys were also firmly out of favour.
Imperial Tobacco was also trading lower after Nomura downgraded its rating on the stock from 'neutral' to 'reduce' as part of its sector review on the European tobacco sector. The broker lowered its view on the sector from 'bearish' to 'neutral' this morning, saying that after three years of out-performance, there is a risk of under-performance as many of the drivers of the 19% per annum average total shareholder return since 2009 are less supportive from here.
LONDON (SHARECAST) - Supermarket chains Morrisons and Tesco were both high risers on Monday. It announced in the morning that it has appointed a managing director of its convenience arm - an area where the company has been notably lacking compared to its rivals - saying it is "ready to expand at pace" its M Local business. In line with this move, Morrisons has awared logistics firm Wincanton a multi-million pound five-year contract to operate its first ever dedicated UK convenience distribution centre in London.
