London midday: Stocks near 2019 highs on trade news
London-listed stocks were pushing closer to their best levels of 2019 on Monday, following good news around international trade and another record close for Wall Street's most closely-followed stock market gauge in the preceding session.
"The US-China trade story has been the gift that keeps on giving as last week European equity markets enjoyed a rally – the Stoxx 600 reached an all-time. The mood on Wall Street was even more bullish as the Dow Jones and the S&P 500 racked up all-time highs," said David Madden at CMC Markets UK.
"[...] Overnight it was announced that China will lower the tariffs on over 850 US products as of 1 January, and the levies on some IT products will be cut in July. This is another positive step in the US-China trade story. Stocks in Asia are mixed."
As of 1206 GMT, the FTSE 100 had reversed course to trade higher by 33.88 points to 7,616.24, while the pound was 0.23% lower against the US dollar to 1.29749.
The top-flight index hit its 2019 closing highs on 29 July at 7,686.61.
The FTSE 250 meanwhile was adding 0.93% or 202.35 points to 21,876.61, putting it within a whisker of its record highs at 21,920.68.
On Monday morning, China's ministry of finance announced a one-year long reduction in tariffs for 859 different types of products, which was up from 706 products in 2019.
According to Bloomberg, the list covered products that in 2018 accounted for $389.09bn-worth of the country's purchases from overseas.
The move was aimed at bolstering domestic demand and opening up the Chinese economy more, but was unrelated to the ongoing US-China trade talks.
And on Saturday, the US President, Donald Trump, tweeted that he expected a trade deal to be signed "very shortly".
In a further boost to investor sentiment, on Friday, the US S&P 500 finished at its highest level ever, closing in the green for a seventh straight session - its best run in more than two years - and clocked in with its best weekly advance since September.
No major economic releases were scheduled in the UK.
Stateside, a preliminary reading on durable goods orders in November was scheduled for release at 1330 GMT, followed by data on new home sales during that same month at 1500 GMT.
NMC Health bounces despite muddy waters
Shares of UAE-focused healthcare provider, NMC Health, were bouncing back after the firm announced plans for an independent third-party review of its accounts following the recent short-selling attack in the wake of a report from Muddy Waters relating to the company's accounting around its debt and liquidity position as well as its alleged transactions with, until now, undisclosed related third parties.
Muddy Waters doubled down on its criticism of NMC Health's financial reporting on Monday.
Aviva was also in the spotlight following a report in The Times according to which activist investors were thought to be turning their attention towards a full break-up of the company's life and general insurance arms.
AstraZeneca announced that ‘budesonide/glycopyrronium/formoterol fumarate’ has been approved in China for the maintenance treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The FTSE 100 pharmaceuticals giant said it was the first approval by the National Medical Products Administration for a triple-combination therapy in a pressurised metered-dose inhaler (pMDI), which uses its ‘Aerosphere’ delivery technology.
Anglo American received the next phase of its operating licence for its Minas-Rio tailings facility in Brazil, following the work to raise the dam as part of the step three licence area of the mine.
Derwent London has exchanged contracts to sell its long leasehold interest in 40 Chancery Lane, WC2, to Deka Immobilien for a headline price of £121.3m. The FTSE 250 firm said the 103,700 square foot office and retail building was let to Publicis Groupe until July 2035, with a tenant break in July 2033, at a net income of £5.5m per annum. It said the sale price represented a net yield to the purchaser of 4.25%, with the disposal price net of rental top-ups and costs being 3.8% above June book value.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,615.07 0.43%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 21,869.07 0.90%
techMARK (TASX) 4,231.31 0.64%
FTSE 100 - Risers
NMC Health (NMC) 1,712.00p 31.64%
Pearson (PSON) 650.80p 4.26%
British Land Company (BLND) 618.00p 2.32%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 962.60p 2.12%
Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 2,580.00p 2.06%
Bunzl (BNZL) 2,090.00p 1.90%
Croda International (CRDA) 5,045.00p 1.71%
Informa (INF) 859.20p 1.66%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 1,245.00p 1.63%
Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,866.50p 1.61%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Prudential (PRU) 1,432.00p -0.76%
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 241.60p -0.62%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 912.60p -0.59%
BT Group (BT.A) 203.15p -0.54%
HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 597.40p -0.47%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 626.00p -0.41%
Vodafone Group (VOD) 150.24p -0.29%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 62.15p -0.29%
Severn Trent (SVT) 2,498.00p -0.28%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 7,796.00p -0.15%
FTSE 250 - Risers
PZ Cussons (PZC) 199.60p 7.20%
Finablr (FIN) 179.10p 6.48%
Future (FUTR) 1,466.00p 3.53%
4Imprint Group (FOUR) 3,280.00p 3.47%
Sirius Minerals (SXX) 3.62p 3.43%
Hunting (HTG) 416.20p 3.12%
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 525.00p 2.94%
888 Holdings (888) 163.50p 2.83%
SIG (SHI) 124.00p 2.82%
Marston's (MARS) 128.60p 2.80%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
TI Fluid Systems (TIFS) 249.50p -2.73%
Daejan Holdings (DJAN) 5,520.00p -1.60%
Royal Mail (RMG) 235.00p -1.30%
BMO Global Smaller Companies (BGSC) 147.00p -1.28%
Airtel Africa (AAF) 77.05p -1.22%
Telecom Plus (TEP) 1,516.00p -1.17%
Frasers Group (FRAS) 470.00p -0.97%
Watches of Switzerland Group (WOSG) 356.60p -0.94%
Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 1,302.00p -0.61%
PPHE Hotel Group Ltd (PPH) 1,900.00p -0.52%