February 29 is a rare day. It only occurs once every four years. But, for the watchers of the FTSE 100 it may as well have not bothered.
At 6,097 the blue-chip benchmark ended February a solitary point higher than Friday’s closing price.
To dismiss the day is perhaps unfair as it was not without talking points.
There are now apparently more reasons to shop online with Morrisons, following news of its deal with Amazon to expand its grocery service.
The deal, which caught the imagination of some investors, could see the supermarket supply hundreds of its ambient, fresh and frozen products to Amazon Prime Now and Amazon Pantry customers.
Morrisons shares advanced 11.1p or 5.91% to end Monday at 199p.
The FTSE 100’s top riser was Anglo American (LON:AAL) which rose nearly 6.6% to 480p.
Intu Properties (LON:INTU) and Burberry (LON:BRBY) were also notable gainers, up 4.13% and 2.02% respectively.
Atop the losers column, meanwhile, was the London Stock Exchange Group (LON:LSE) which fell just shy of 5% to end Monday at 2,678p.
Property and building firm Berkeley (LON:BKG) lost 2.99% to close at 3,249p while drugs firm Shire (LON:SHP) dropped 2.99%.
Morrisons' Amazon deal helps Footsie to stem losses
London's top flight shrugged off the worst effects of downbeat inflation figures from the eurozone on Monday, buoyed by corporate deal news.
The Footsie pared losses to stand 12.85 points off at 6083 despite figures showing the single currency area moved into deflation for the first time since September, with a reading of -0.2% against expectations of zero.
Connor Campbell at spread-betting firm Spreadex predicted the European Central Bank (ECB) would unveil extra stimulus for the region's economy at its next meeting.
He said: "This latest inflation figure almost surely guarantees action from Mario Draghi when the ECB meets next Thursday."
Oil prices overcame early losses, with a barrel of Brent crude rising 1.1% to US$35.5, boosting shares in BP (LON:BP.) by 0.3p to 349.85p and Royal Dutch Shell (LON:RDSB) by 14p to 1649p.
But a Moody's downgrade of Oman's sovereign credit rating to A3 showed the economic pressure that Middle Eastern oil producers are facing from continued low oil prices.
"The key driver for the rating downgrade is the highly negative impact of the structural shift in lower oil prices, which has continued through the opening months of 2016, on Oman's government finances,
balance-of-payments position, and economic performance," the credit rating agency said.
Morrisons (LON:MRW) ticked up 7.6p to 195.5p on news of a wholesale supply deal with Amazon and a shake-up of its distribution deal with Ocado (LON:OCDO), whose shares plunged 26.2p to 255.7p.
GlaxoSmithKline's (LON:GSK) stock drifted 14.5p to 1396p on reports that the drug giant had started succession planning to replace chief executive Andrew Witty, although not until 2017 at the earliest.
Weir Group (LON:WEIR) inflated 16.5p to 949.5p on market rumours that US rival Flowserve Corp (NYSE:FLS) may be rekindling its interest in the Glasgow-based oil industry pump and valve maker.
Flowserve, whose shares dropped 1.6% to US$42.29 on Friday, made a takeover approach to Weir in 1999 but the UK company rejected it and Flowserve pulled out. Weir declined to comment.
Genel Energy (LON:GENL) leaked 44.25p to 80.5p as it forecast a US$1bn impairment on the value of its Taq Taq field for 2015 due to a reduction in recoverable reserves and the lower oil price.
Elsewhere, news of an order worth more than US$200,000 from an unidentified European company lifted shares in cyber-security firm Corero Network Security (LON:CNS) by 7.9% to 24p.
Castings and engineering group Chamberlin & Hill (LON:CMH) fired up 4p, or 6.25%, to 68p as it forecast annual profits ahead of market hopes and unveiled a major new automotive contract.
Hummingbird Resources (LON:HUM) was up 6.25% to 19.12p as further reworking of the economics of its Yanfolila gold project in Mali has increased the project’s value by a quarter.
LONDON OPEN
London shares had a negative start to the week but Morrisons (LON:MRW) got a boost from news of a deal with US web retailer Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN).
The FTSE 100 Index dropped 42.59 points to 6053 in early trading due to China’s slowdown, Brexit fears and commodity uncertainty.
The Shanghai Composite fell about 2.9% after the G20 meeting failed to come up with any specific stimulus plans for China’s ailing economy.
Back in the UK, a government analysis said a process of agreeing withdrawal and setting up new trade deals if the UK left the EU would hit financial markets, the pound and two million ex-pats.
Oil prices were slightly down, with a barrel of Brent crude hovering around US$35, hitting shares in BP (LON:BP.) by 2.35p to 347.2p and Royal Dutch Shell (LON:RDSB) by 3.5p to 1631.5p.
But a Moody's downgrade of Oman's sovereign credit rating to A3 showed the economic pressure that Middle Eastern oil producers are facing from continued low oil prices.
"The key driver for the rating downgrade is the highly negative impact of the structural shift in lower oil prices, which has continued through the opening months of 2016, on Oman's government finances,
balance-of-payments position, and economic performance," the credit rating agency said.
Morrisons (LON:MRW) ticked up 7.8p to 195.7p on news of a wholesale supply deal with Amazon and a shake-up of its distribution deal with Ocado (LON:OCDO), whose shares fell 17.1p to 264.8p.
GlaxoSmithKline's (LON:GSK) stock drifted 2.5p to 1408p on reports that the drug giant had started succession planning to replace chief executive Andrew Witty, although not until 2017 at the earliest.
Weir Group inflated 16.5p to 949.5p on market rumours that US rival Flowserve Corp (NYSE:FLS) may be rekindling its interest in the Glasgow-based oil industry pump and valve maker.
Flowserve, whose shares dropped 1.6% to US$42.29 on Friday, made a takeover approach to Weir in 1999 but the UK company rejected it and Flowserve pulled out. Weir declined to comment.
Elsewhere, Corero Network Security (LON:CNS) sparked 10.1% to 24.5p as the cyber-security specialist won an order worth more than US$200,000 for its SmartWall Threat Defense System from an unidentified European regional supplier.
Castings and engineering group Chamberlin & Hill (LON:CMH) fired up 4p, or 6.25%, to 68p as it forecast annual profits ahead of market hopes and unveiled a major new automotive contract.
MARKET PREVIEW
The FTSE 100 Index is poised to start the week lower as Asian shares fell overnight and after the G20 meeting ended.
The UK benchmark has recovered from some early year losses and made it above the 6,000 level again, closing Friday up 83 at 6, 096.
Today, it is tipped by spreadbetters at IG to open around 56 points lower.
The weekend G20 meeting finished with, according to one view at least, no firm plan for a fiscal stimulus to improve global growth, though there was a wider agreement to use all "policy tools" available.
Asian markets did not seem to react warmly. The Nikkei in Japan closed down 161 points at 16,027, while the Shanghai Composite Index is trailing 115 points at the time of writing.
In the US, the Dow Jones closed Friday 57 points lower at 16,640.
That came despite better than expected US data at the end of the week with consumer spending rising last month and inflation going higher by the most in four years. All this feeds further into the view will now raise US interest rates.
It is also causing strength in the US dollar.
On the corporate front today, investors will be eyeing 2015 results from newspaper group Trinity Mirror (LON:TRIN).
The key focus in this release will be current trading and outlook comments, particularly given the disappointing January national advertising performance reported in the recent DMGT trading update, reckons broker Numis.