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London open: Stocks move higher despite Paris attacks
‘Meme pas peur’, ‘not a bit afraid’, has been the initial reaction of investors to this weekend’s terrorist attacks in Paris.
Contrary to pre-market indications, the FTSE 100 quickly moved into the black on Monday morning and as of 0914 GMT, was 0.56% higher at 6,151.07. Meanwhile, the benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 index was flat at 369.5
Nevertheless, analysts were still trying to get a handle on the full medium-term implications of the attacks in geopolitical terms.
Front month Brent crude futures were up 0.9% to $44.86 per barrel in ICE trading following Sunday evening’s strike by French jets against the ISIS stronghold of Raqqa in Syria. Euro/dollar was nearly unchanged at 1.0739.
Meeting over the weekend in Turkey, reports indicated that G-20 planners had made progress on a timeline for a political transition in Syria, amid some signs of rapprochement between Russia and the US.
Nevertheless, in the wake of the Paris attacks, there was some added speculation that the ECB might be that much more likely to move in December.
“While not wanting to second guess the effect of the events of the weekend the closure of France’s borders, along with other security measures, the impact on consumer confidence could well be considerable in the coming days and weeks,” said Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets UK.
“For France, regional elections in three weeks will be very closely watched. Front National were already tipped to do well and it’s possible that Friday’s events will cement this. Europe is currently fortunately in a positive economic cycle which is dampening the support of extreme parties to a degree.
“However the migration crisis is impacting this and one can only imagine what would occur politically if this occurred simultaneously with a recession – worst still if it coincided with an important election. Another ramification of Friday’s attacks is the likely confidence hit to the French economy which may in turn increase the dovishness at the ECB meeting in just over two weeks,” Michael Reid at Deutsche Bank said in a research note sent to clients.
Homebuiler reports strengthening autumn demand
Housebuilder Taylor Wimpey said it expected to report a 2% rise in 2015 operating profit margin and a return on net operating assets of more than 25%. In a trading statement for the year to date, the company said it had seen an “excellent summer selling season strengthen further in the autumn period”, underpinned by rising wages and access to a wider range of mortgages. Sales rates for the year to date are ahead of last year at 0.76 sales per outlet per week against 0.66 last time. For the second half to date, sales rates are around 22% higher at 0.73.
The head of BT Group’s local access network division Openreach is leaving to become chief executive of Nationwide. Joe Garner will take up the position at the mortgage and savings provider in spring 2016. BT Group said on Monday that one of Garner’s key roles during his 22 month tenure has been overseeing BT’s deployment of superfast fibre broadband. The FTSE 100 communications company also said he has relentlessly focused on customer service and operational improvements, driving through changes to help it hit or exceed all 60 service targets set by Ofcom.
Meggitt’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Securaplane, has been selected by Gulfstream to provide high definition cameras for the G650 aircraft. The aerospace and defence engineer said Securaplane and Gulfstream have entered into a multi-million dollar contract for a system that will be standard fit on all future production G650 aircraft and offered as a retrofit for aircraft in service.
Engineering specialist Keller Group said it remains confident results for the year will be in line with current market expectations despite challenging conditions in many of its markets, thanks in part to strength in its main market of US construction.
Majestic Wine posted a 50% drop in first half pre-tax profit on the back of a £2.6m impairment charge and suspended its interim dividend. For the 26 weeks to 28 September, pre-tax profit came in at £4.3m from £8.5m in the same period last year on revenue of £181.6m, up from £133.8m.
Modern Water has delivered its single largest order of monitoring equipment. The AIM-listed water production and monitoring company announced the order on Monday.
