LONDON MARKETS: British Stocks Rise To Near 11-month High As Johnson Elected As Conservative Party Leader

By Steve Goldstein, MarketWatch

British stocks rose to nearly an 11-month high on Wednesday, as the Conservative Party's election of Boris Johnson to lead the party was set against a backdrop of global optimism for stocks.

The U.K. FTSE 100 rose 1.1% to 7,597.97. The FTSE 100's 52-week high was 7,776.65, on Aug. 8, 2018.

The mid-cap FTSE 250 , which is more exposed to the British economy, rose 0.6% to 19,765.80.

   The British pound  edged lower to $1.2448 vs. the dollar, but rose to   1.1141 euros. 

Read: Boris Johnson announced as Britain's next prime minister -- what happens next for markets (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/brace-yourselves-for-britains-new-prime-minister---heres-how-markets-will-react-2019-07-22)

What's moving markets

To the surprise of few, Johnson won the Conservative party leadership race handily over Jeremy Hunt, (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/boris-johnson-says-hell-unite-the-country-deliver-brexit-and-fend-off-the-labour-party-2019-07-23)setting the stage for the former mayor of London to become the prime minister.

Analysts at UBS say the market is pricing in nearly a 50% chance of a no-deal Brexit, which the brokerage thinks is overstating those risks. UBS point out Johnson faces barriers including the party's lack of a majority in Parliament and that the party that is not united. "So although a no-deal Brexit remains possible, we believe the U.K. is more likely to ask for a further extension to exit day, whether due to a change in stance from Mr. Johnson, or due to a no-confidence vote followed by a general election."

Outside the U.K., the focus was on a debt-ceiling deal tentatively reached in the U.S. and reports of progress on U.S.-China trade talks.

Focus stocks

Shares of Standard Life Aberdeen (SLA.LN) rose 2.4% as the company's former unit, Standard Life Assurance, agreed to pay a GBP30.7 million fine over annuity sales. Phoenix Group (PHNX.LN) , its new owner, rose 0.5%.

Lloyd's syndicate member Beazley (BEZ.LN) shares rose 4.8% after reporting a near tripling of pretax profits on 12% higher premiums.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 23, 2019 09:14 ET (13:14 GMT)

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