LONDON MARKETS: FTSE 100 Rises To 2-week High, With Retailers In Recovery Mode
June 19 2017 - 12:25PM
Dow Jones News
By Carla Mozee and Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch
Brexit talks begin in Brussels; Bank of England has new policy
maker
U.K. stocks rose Monday to close at a two-week high, with
investors taking on risk by scooping up commodity shares, while
retail shares were recovering after a selloff in the previous
session.
The FTSE 100 rose 0.8% to end at 7,523.81, with its best session
since June 9 led by basic materials and industrial shares. Miners
Glencore PLC (GLEN.LN) and Anglo American PLC (AAL.LN) climbed 2.9%
and 2%, respectively. Oil producer BP PLC (BP.LN) (BP.LN) tacked on
1.3%.
The FTSE 100 on Friday broke a four-day losing streak
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ftse-100-advances-with-tesco-up-after-sales-report-2017-06-16),
but still finished the week with a 0.9% decline.
Financial markets early Monday were steady after initial reports
of a "major incident" in London involving a van being driven into a
crowd of people
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/one-dead-several-injured-after-car-rams-crowd-in-finsbury-park-london-2017-06-19)
near a North London mosque. One person is dead and several have
been injured. Metropolitan Police are now investigating the
incident as a potential terror attack and a 48-year-old man has
been arrested. U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May on Monday condemned
all forms of extremism and said extra police will be deployed to
protect mosques.
Brexit talks: The new trading week kicked off with the start of
talks over Britain's exit from the European Union, or Brexit,
nearly a year after the U.K. voted to leave the EU in a referendum.
U.K.'s Brexit Secretary David Davis and his team were meeting with
the EU's chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, and his in Brussels.
No Brexit deal for the U.K. would be a "very, very bad outcome,"
U.K. Treasury chief Philip Hammond said on BBC1's "The Andrew Marr
Show" show on Sunday. Britain will exit the European Union's single
market, but an agreement for a smooth transition would be ideal, he
said.
"Hammond noted that he wants to push for a 'jobs first' Brexit
and rejected the government's previous mantra that 'no deal is
better than a bad deal,'" wrote IronFX senior analyst Charalambos
Pissouros.
"We consider these as preliminary indications that the
Conservatives' stance to Brexit may have started to soften up. If
more government or Tory officials echo similar remarks, then
speculation regarding a smoother Brexit could resurface," he
said.
The pound was buying $1.2739
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/pound-steady-with-brexit-talks-due-to-kick-off-2017-06-19),
pulling back from an intraday high of $1.2817. Sterling late Friday
fetched $1.2778 in New York. The currency has slid over the months
from around $1.50 as voting in the Brexit referendum got under way
on June 23, 2016.
Read:Greece's ex-finance minister Varoufakis warns of 5-year
talks for Brexit deal
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/yanis-varoufakis-warns-the-uk-needs-5-years-to-seal-a-brexit-deal-2017-06-19)
U.K. stocks Monday rose alongside European markets , as the
French CAC index surged after French President Emmanuel Macron's
upstart party notched a strong win
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/macrons-party-on-track-for-dominant-win-in-french-parliament-2017-06-18)
in Sunday's parliamentary elections.
Retail recovery: J Sainsbury PLC shares (SBRY.LN) bulked up
2.3%, and Marks & Spencer Group PLC (MKS.LN) (MKS.LN) picked up
1.6% after Friday's selloff among food retailers. That move lower
came after Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) said it made a deal to buy Whole
Foods Market Inc
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/amazon-to-buy-whole-foods-for-137-billion-2017-06-16-91035726).(WFM)
, which sparked concerns of increased competition in the grocery
industry.
But on the midcap FTSE 250 (OCDO.LN) , Ocado Group (OCDO.LN)
jumped nearly 11%, as the British online grocery company is
considered a takeover target.
See: European grocers crumble after Amazon-Whole Foods deal
fuels pricing concerns
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/european-grocers-crumble-after-amazon-whole-foods-deal-fuels-pricing-concerns-2017-06-16)
In other stock movers, educational-materials publisher Pearson
PLC (PSON.LN) fell 1.1% as Goldman Sachs reiterated its sell rating
on the company.
BOE watch: Bank of England Gov. Mark Carney will deliver a
speech at Mansion House in London on Tuesday at 8:30 a.m. Carney
was set to offer his view on the outlook for the U.K. economy at
last week's Mansion House dinner, but the high-profile, annual
event was canceled as the government responded to the massive
London apartment building fire that has now left at least 79 people
presumed dead.
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/number-of-presumed-dead-in-london-apartment-fire-rises-to-79-2017-06-19)
Separately, Silvana Tenreyro, a professor at the London School
of Economics, was named to the Bank of England's Monetary Policy
Committee
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/lse-professor-silvana-tenreyro-named-to-bank-of-englands-policy-board-2017-06-19).
Her three-year term will take effect on July 7. Tenreyro, who holds
degrees from Harvard University and the Universidad Nacional de
Tucuman in Argentina, will take the place of Kristin Forbes, who's
term is expiring. Forbes has recently voted in favor of
interest-rate hikes.
Tenreyro has conducted academic work on productivity, housing
and wage issues, among others, the BOE said.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 19, 2017 12:10 ET (16:10 GMT)
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