London midday: FTSE gains as reopening stocks rally
London equity markets were firmly in the black by midday on Tuesday following a record session on Wall Street, with reopening stocks on the front foot.
The FTSE 100 was up 1.2% at 6,815.74.
Neil Wilson, chief market analyst at Markets.com, said: "European markets rallied firmly as they play catch-up after being shut for Good Friday and Easter Monday.
"Reopening favourites Cineworld, Carnival and National Express were all up about 5%. Deliveroo shares are flat ahead of the start of unrestricted trading tomorrow – let's see what kind of reaction there is as the thousands of retail clients who have watched the sharp decline last week get a chance to offload (remember these were Deliveroo customers who were not necessarily owners of any stocks before)."
Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor, said the recovery trade is "at full throttle", with the major US indices hitting new record highs.
He noted that Monday was the first chance for markets in the US to react to the bumper non-farm payrolls figure from Friday, where a "hugely better-than-expected" 916,000 jobs were added, while the unemployment rate declined to 6%.
In equity markets, oil giant BP rallied after saying it expects to hit its $35bn net debt target during the first quarter of 2021 after faster-than-expected progress on its disposals programme. The company had forecast raising $4bn to $6bn from disposals and said proceeds would now be at the upper end of this range.
Shopping centre owner Hammerson was the top performer on the FTSE 250 as non-essential shuts are set to reopen next week.
Carnival was also trading higher after saying it plans to restart cruising from US ports in July.
Cineworld advanced, with traders pointing to a strong performance from AMC Entertainment in the US on Monday after an analyst at B Riley said it was time to buy AMC. The analyst noted an improving outlook for the balance sheet and a strong opening weekend for ‘Godzilla versus Kong’. He also said that AMC was well-positioned to benefit from the return of film audiences post-pandemic and this has had positive read-across to Cineworld, traders said.
Tui advanced even after Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he was "hopeful" foreign travel could resume on 17 May but urged people not to book summer holidays yet as more data is needed before a decision can be made.
Tullow Oil gained after saying it has started a multi-year, multi-well drilling campaign offshore Ghana, drilling the first well at the Jubilee Field on Monday.
Elsewhere, Hikma Pharmaceuticals was boosted by an upgrade to ‘overweight’ at Morgan Stanley.
AstraZeneca was a little weaker following reports that the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is considering restricting use of the company’s Covid-19 vaccine for the under-30s due to blood clot concerns.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 6,815.74 1.16%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 21,966.88 1.08%
techMARK (TASX) 4,280.14 0.45%
FTSE 100 - Risers
SSE (SSE) 1,509.50p 3.60%
BP (BP.) 300.15p 3.57%
Entain (ENT) 1,583.00p 3.57%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 5,669.00p 3.45%
BHP Group (BHP) 2,133.50p 3.17%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,745.00p 3.10%
M&G (MNG) 215.80p 3.06%
Anglo American (AAL) 2,984.00p 2.95%
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 2,382.00p 2.72%
Glencore (GLEN) 293.05p 2.59%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Informa (INF) 564.00p -1.40%
Bunzl (BNZL) 2,328.00p -1.36%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 2,066.00p -1.24%
BT Group (BT.A) 154.60p -1.18%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 693.60p -1.14%
Next (NXT) 8,034.00p -0.99%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RKT) 6,435.00p -0.95%
Experian (EXPN) 2,522.00p -0.94%
Rentokil Initial (RTO) 495.60p -0.88%
Just Eat Takeaway.Com N.V. (CDI) (JET) 6,843.00p -0.73%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Hammerson (HMSO) 36.53p 8.01%
TI Fluid Systems (TIFS) 290.50p 6.02%
Coats Group (COA) 58.90p 5.18%
Cineworld Group (CINE) 104.10p 4.92%
C&C Group (CDI) (CCR) 289.80p 4.24%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 370.00p 4.05%
TBC Bank Group (TBCG) 1,060.00p 3.92%
Biffa (BIFF) 279.50p 3.90%
BlackRock World Mining Trust (BRWM) 594.00p 3.85%
Carnival (CCL) 1,686.80p 3.75%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 1,924.50p -4.68%
Drax Group (DRX) 403.60p -3.35%
Homeserve (HSV) 1,180.00p -2.64%
Energean (ENOG) 841.00p -1.92%
Genesis Emerging Markets Fund Ltd Ptg NPV (GSS) 897.00p -1.75%
Centrica (CNA) 55.20p -1.43%
Just Eat Takeaway.Com N.V. (CDI) (JET) 6,843.00p -0.73%
Hipgnosis Songs Fund Limited NPV (SONG) 123.20p -0.65%
Micro Focus International (MCRO) 554.80p -0.57%
Mitchells & Butlers (MAB) 317.20p -0.56%