London open: Stocks recover ahead of manufacturing, services PMIs
London stocks rose in early trade on Friday, recovering from losses in the previous session as investors eyed readings on the UK manufacturing and services sectors and continued to keep an eye on trade developments.
At 0840 GMT, the FTSE 100 was 0.9% higher at 7,305.02, while the pound was up 0.1% against the dollar at 1.2923 and 0.1% lower versus the euro at 1.1664.
On the trade font, Chinese President Xi Jinping said the country wants to work towards a phase one deal with the US on the "basis of mutual respect and equality". He also said that China would fight back if needs be.
Spreadex analyst Connor Campbell said: "It appears that President Xi Jinping has managed to momentarily allay the market’s fears surrounding the status of the US-China trade deal.
"Though the leader was keen to stress that Beijing is not afraid to ‘fight back’, he claimed that the country has been ‘working actively to try not to have a trade war’, stating that China ‘did not initiate this trade war’ and that it’s ‘not something we want’.
"A convincing case could be made for this being completely meaningless. Yet given investors are devouring every morsel of trade deal news, it was enough to send the markets back into the green."
On home shores, all eyes will be on Markit's flash services and manufacturing PMIs for November, due at 0930 GMT. Readings of 50 and 49, respectively, are expected.
"The uncertainty surrounding Brexit has caused an economic malaise in the UK, and investment has tapered off, so the reports will provide an insight into the health of the British economy," said CMC Markets analyst David Madden.
In equity markets, miners racked up the strongest gains, with Antofagasta, Glencore and Rio Tinto all higher.
Online real estate agent Rightmove ticked higher as it announced the appointment of Andrew Fisher as non-executive chairman with effect from January 1, 2020.
On the downside, housebuilder Berkeley Group retreated, with traders pointing to the Conservatives’ pledge to make foreign buyers pay 3% more in stamp duty than UK residents.
Coats Group was sharply lower after the industrial thread maker said that sales in the four moths to the end of October slowed, while Playtech was in the red as the gambling software development company issued a profit warning.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,305.02 0.92%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,436.46 0.33%
techMARK (TASX) 4,016.32 0.40%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Antofagasta (ANTO) 891.80p 2.39%
Glencore (GLEN) 245.20p 2.34%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 224.20p 2.33%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 729.80p 2.07%
HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 580.90p 1.97%
Smith (DS) (SMDS) 379.00p 1.94%
Mondi (MNDI) 1,674.00p 1.92%
Spirax-Sarco Engineering (SPX) 8,660.00p 1.82%
TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 1,064.50p 1.82%
Carnival (CCL) 3,150.00p 1.81%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Fresnillo (FRES) 585.80p -2.14%
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 4,379.00p -1.93%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 1,137.00p -1.56%
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 2,976.00p -0.43%
Diageo (DGE) 3,086.00p -0.40%
Severn Trent (SVT) 2,286.00p -0.31%
Just Eat (JE.) 753.20p -0.24%
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 1,882.50p -0.11%
British Land Company (BLND) 552.00p -0.07%
Auto Trader Group (AUTO) 531.60p -0.04%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Wood Group (John) (WG.) 356.80p 2.94%
Micro Focus International (MCRO) 1,110.80p 2.93%
Stagecoach Group (SGC) 133.00p 2.86%
Babcock International Group (BAB) 592.80p 2.63%
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 487.40p 2.61%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 144.75p 2.30%
Pets at Home Group (PETS) 203.80p 2.26%
Weir Group (WEIR) 1,410.00p 2.17%
Hunting (HTG) 415.00p 2.17%
Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 491.10p 2.12%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Coats Group (COA) 66.00p -10.81%
HICL Infrastructure (HICL) 163.00p -4.34%
Playtech (PTEC) 393.50p -4.14%
Sirius Minerals (SXX) 3.30p -3.23%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 181.50p -2.79%
PPHE Hotel Group Ltd (PPH) 1,830.00p -2.66%
St. Modwen Properties (SMP) 445.50p -2.52%
Hilton Food Group (HFG) 996.00p -2.16%
Genus (GNS) 2,938.00p -2.07%
Computacenter (CCC) 1,394.00p -2.04%