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London open: shares make bright start on easing trade tensions, Thomas Cook buyout
London stocks made a bright start to a damp week as they opened higher on Monday on the back of easing trade tensions and strong closes on Asian markets.
The FTSE 100 opened 0.52% higher at 7,332 as the US President Donald Trump pulled back from levying tariffs on Mexico over immigration.
CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson said impetus had also been provided from strong US payrolls numbers last Friday.
“The US said that they had reached a deal with the Mexican government to pinch off immigration levels at the US southern border. This in turn is likely to see markets in Europe open higher this morning, while the Mexican peso rebounded,” he said.
On the data front, manufacturing and industrial production figures are due at 0930 BST, along with GDP and trade balance.
In UK corporate news, Thomas Cook shares rose 20.21% as the company confirmed that Hong Kong’s Fosun Tourism was in talks to buy its tour operating business as the British group faces breakup after issuing three profit warnings in the past year.
Shares in plumbing products distributor Ferguson led the FTSE 100 fallers as third-quarter revenue fell short of estimates due to slower growth in the US, which is its largest market.
Full year ongoing trading profit was expected to be in line with expectations on the back of improving margins, the company said.
Woodford Patient Capital Trust, the listed fund run by Neil Woodford, also fell heavily, despite reassuring investors that the suspension of his flagship equity fund had not affected its “operational performance”.
