LONDON MARKETS: British Stocks Enjoy Best Day In Six Months On Pound Collapse, Merger Buzz
July 29 2019 - 9:45AM
Dow Jones News
By Steve Goldstein, MarketWatch
British stocks on Monday enjoyed their best single-day
performance in six months as the pound collapsed on concerns the
U.K. will leave the European Union without an agreed-upon deal.
The FTSE 100 rallied 2% to 7,698.52, the best gain of the major
European stock markets
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/europe-stocks-nudge-up-on-ma-and-earnings-news-as-lse-surges-while-heineken-fizzles-2019-07-29).
The pound tumbled through the $1.23 level to a two-year low as the
new Boris Johnson government stepped up plans to leave the EU in a
so-called no-deal Brexit.
Read: British pound falls below key level, reaches new two-year
low on no-deal Brexit concerns
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/british-pound-reaches-two-year-low-on-no-deal-brexit-concerns-2019-07-29)
Heavyweight Vodafone Group (VOD.LN) (VOD.LN) extended last
week's gains from announcing it may sell its European towers
business, with shares rising another 4.5% on Monday.
The M&A news didn't inspire the action across the Atlantic
as U.S. stock futures pointed to a flat start for the Dow Jones
Industrial Average . The U.S. Federal Reserve is due to cut
interest rates on Wednesday, with the markets unsure whether the
rate cut will be a quarter-point or a half-point.
In its first major deal since ex-Goldman Sachs executive David
Schwimmer took the reins as CEO, the London Stock Exchange Group
(LSE.LN) said it's in talks to buy Refinitiv, owned by Blackstone
(BX) and Thomson Reuters (TRI), in a $27 billion deal to bulk up
its offerings of financial data and infrastructure. LSE shares
jumped nearly 15%.
Analysts at UBS, who rate LSE at neutral, said the deal would
lift LSE earnings by 8% in its first year and by 20% in year three,
excluding any refinancing benefits.
Just Eat(JE.LN) jumped 25% to 795 pence after it and
Takeaway.com (TKWY.AE) announced merger talks, in a deal where the
Dutch-listed group would buy the U.K.-listed company in a stock
swap valuing Just Eat, using Friday's closing prices, at 731 pence
a share. Activist investor Cat Rock has stakes in both food
delivery companies and has been reported to be pushing for a
deal.
Ferguson shares (FERG.LN) rose 2% as Sky News reported that
Nelson Peltz's Trian
(https://news.sky.com/story/activist-peltz-wants-plumber-ferguson-to-sell-uk-business-11772459)
has urged the plumbing products distributor to sell its U.K.
business.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 29, 2019 09:30 ET (13:30 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Vodafone (LSE:VOD)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2024 to Apr 2024
Vodafone (LSE:VOD)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2023 to Apr 2024