FTSE closes at 7,524
Met Police name three Borough Market attackers
Sterling down 0.10% against dollar
UK shares closed Tuesday around flat as investors sit on their hands ahead of the UK general election, taking risk off the table.
FTSE 100 closed down 0.01% at 7,524, while the FTSE 250 tanked over 213 points to close at 19,654.
The pound was hit hard on the day and was 0.10% down against the US dollar, at the time of writing.
On the company front, RBS (LON:RBS) was among the biggest laggards, with shares easing 3.08% to 251.70p.
It came as the group representing thousands of investors in a claim over its 2008 rights issue said they would settle, averting the need for a trial.
On the rising side, miners were gainers, with top riser being silver giant Fresnillo (LON:FRES), up 3.21% to 1,674p, while Randgold Resources (LON:RRS) added 2.67% at 7,700p.
MID-SESSION
Footsie has traded sideways all day as conflicting election poll predictions, the aftermath of the weekend's terror attack and US testimony from fired FBI chief James Comey have given plenty of reasons for investors to do nothing.
Near the close, FTSE 100 was down 10 at 7516, little changed from where it started the day.
In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied after a weak start and was 25 lower at 21,518 though losses had been much heavier when trading initially got underway. Nasdaq had moved back into blue numbers.
On the political front, a 1% decline in the FTSE 250 while FTSE 100 was essentially flat on the day was notable, said Jasper Lawler at London Capital Group.
"Investors appear to be shunning UK domestic shares before the election. Within the broader FTSE 350, retail shares were biggest decliners, which are typically closely tied to the health of the British economy. While a Labour victory remains a distant outlier, polls would indicate a hung parliament is possible."
Gold was a stand-out feature with the price of the metal threatening to go above US$1,300 again as investors weighed not only the political uncertainty in the UK but the growing tensions in the Middle East between Qatar and its neighbours.
Mexico-based precious metals miner Fresnillo PLC (LON:FRES) was the best riser, adding 2% to 1,654p.
Medical products supplier ConvaTec PLC (LON:CTEC) was the worst performer as two of its large investors, Nordic Capital and Avista, announced plans to sell over £800mln worth of shares at 322p per share.
Following the sale, Nordic Capital will own 7% and Avista 3%. Others under pressure included Burberry on an HSBC downgrade.
Among the small caps, Webis Holdings PLC (LON:WEB) was a good riser late in the day as its US online betting arm received a licence of New York State while Clontarf Energy also held onto its strong early gains.
14.19...FTSE 100 bumbles along as US markets set to open lower
US shares were set to open lower ahead of former FBI chief James Comey's testimony in front of the Senate intelligence committee.
The topic - a probe into the links between between President Trump's election campaign last year and Russian officials.
Yesterday, Wall Street closed lower as risk-off sentiment came back on the table after Friday's highs.
The benchmark Dow Jones lost 22 to 21,184; the S&P500 shed 2.97 at 2,436. The Nasdaq lost over ten points to 6,295.
Today, Dow futures are 35 lower; the Nasdaq futures are down five and the S&P500 is down almost five points.
13.59... On the subject of gold
On the subject of gold, Fawad Razaqzada, technical analyst at Forex.com, reckons the metal has broken a long term decline and may sharply extend its ongoing rally now that it has made a significant long-term technical breakthrough.
"As can be seen from the weekly chart, the long-term bearish trend line that had been in place since the year 2011 has broken down. This could pave the way for significant long-term gains. A decisive break above the last swing high at $1295 is what the bulls want to see now."
12.59 ...FTSE 100 steady though Burberry hit by HSBC downgrade
Burberry PLC (LON:BRBY) was the worst FTSE 100 faller shedding almost 3% as HSBC cut its rating to ‘reduce’ from ‘hold’ as it believes the stock will underperform its luxury goods peer “for longer than expected by the market.”
The global bank also cuts its target price for the FTSE 100-listed firm to 1,580p, from 1,630p after reducing its earnings per share estimates by 8% for this year and 6% for next to reflect a fourth-quarter sales miss.
11.59am...FTSE 100 steady as pound rallies but FTSE 250 tanks
The Footsie might be taking the prospect of a Labour Government in its stride, but not so the UK-centric FTSE 250.
It was down almost 1.2 points today seemingly on the poll for Good Morning Britain that showed the Tories’ lead down to just one point.
Since Monday, the FTSE250 has shed 2.2% while the FTSE 100, with its much larger proportion of foreign and companies with overseas earnings has been almost dead flat.
11.30am ...FTSE 100 steady as pound rallies
FTSE 100 has rallied from a dull start and the polls suggesting a possible hung parliament.
The blue chip index two points lower at 7,517, with miners and oilers the weakest performers though it was the pound that is possibly the biggest indicator of the market’s thinking and it was rising today.
“As has been the case in all recent votes, the pound remains the main barometer of sentiment.
“The more uncertain the outlook for Brexit negotiations, the further it falls, thanks to the fact that the UK continues to run a large current account deficit, and funding it becomes more difficult against a background of uncertainty,” said John Wyn-Evans, head of Investment Strategy at Investec Wealth & Investment.
A new survey by Survation for Good Morning Britain has given the Tories just a 1 point lead ahead of Thursday's General Election compared to a six-point advantage a week ago.
Gold was also going well as some investors hedged their bets especially with the simmering row in the Middle East between Qatar and the four of its neighbours.
The price of the metal rose almost US$9 to US$1,291, sparking a gain of 80p to 7,580p for Africa-based miner Randgold Resources PLC (LON: RRS).
Randgold was one of the top Footsie risers alongside Reckitt Benckiser PLC (LON:RB.)
Investors were indifferent to the news coming out of he three big airlines today.
British Airways was the main company headline this morning as owner IAG (LON:IAG) said that human error had caused the huge IT failure over the bank holiday weekend, but this had been well-flagged and the shares were little changed at 589.5p.
Traffic figures from its two main rivals, easyJet PLC (LON:EZJ) and Ryanair Holdings PLC (LON:RYA) barely moved the dial though both posted good gains.
Ryanair carried 11% more passengers in May and EasyJet 9.5%. Shares in Ryanair were unchanged at €18.03, though easyJet added 1% to 1,357p.
Among the small caps, AIM-listed oil explorer Clontarf Energy PLC was the stand-out as it picked up offshore Block 18 (EG-18) in the Equatorial Guinea 2017 bidding round.David Horgan a director at Clontarf said it was huge coup for the oil independent. The block covers more 5,000 sq km of undrilled deep water acreage.
Shares jumped 112% to 0.73p.
8.45am ...FTSE 100 drops as new poll points to close result
FTSE 100 has opened slowly after a dull day on Wall Street and more polls suggesting a shock election result.
The blue chip index was nine points lower at 7,517, with miners and oilers the weakest performers.
Copper prices dropped by another 1.2% while a rally by oil stocks following the shunning of Qatar by four of its neighbours yesterday proved only a short-lived boost to the crude price. Chile-based copper miner Antofagasta PLC (LON:ANTO) dropped 1% to 767p.
Meanwhile, a new survey by Survation for Good Morning Britain has given the Tories just a 1 point lead ahead of Thursday's General Election.
British Airways was the main company headline this morning as owner IAG (LON:IAG) said that human error had caused the huge IT failure over the bank holiday weekend.
Apparently, one of its IT staff ‘switched it on and off again’ at one its data centres, but reconnected it wrongly.
“You could cause a mistake to disconnect the power – it’s difficult for me to understand how you can mistakenly reconnect the power,” said IAG chief executive Willie Walsh.
IAG shares rose 1p to 593p.
Among the small caps, a bullish trading update lifted Myanmar-focused social media group MySQUAR PLC (LON:MYSQ) 23% to 4.5p.
7.03am...FTSE 100 to open flat as polls narrow further
The mood of investors is calm ahead of Thursday election even with another poll suggesting the Tories barely have a lead at all over Labour now.
A Survation poll yesterday put the Conservatives just 1.1 point ahead of Labour with the possibility of a hung parliament and coalition government looming large.
Both the pound and stock markets seem still not to think that is possibility.
“We have pointed out that there are multiple polls, and not all are as negative on the Tories as Survation appears to be.
“The pound remains remarkably stable as we lead up to the UK election,” said Kathleen Brooks at City Index.
Footsie too remains steady with financial spread bet firms suggesting little change when markets opens after the index’s 21 point fall to 7,525 yesterday.
US shares finished lower as stocks fell away from record highs last Friday. The dollar also fell and US crude prices slipped as the oil market continues to be volatile.
The Dow Jones lost 22 to 21,184; the S&P500 shed 2.97 at 2,436. The Nasdaq lost over ten points to 6,295.
News headlines
British Airways has ordered an independent review into the IT systems failure that grounded flights and left 75,000 passengers stranded over the bank holiday weekend, the Guardian reports. The inquiry will be carried out by a yet to be named external firm and is expected to centre on a technician who switched off and then reconnected the power supply to the airline’s data centre.
Private equity firms Pollen Street Capital and BC Partners have raised their offer for challenger bank Shawbrook by £26mln to £868mln, The Telegraph writes .The firms declared their hostile bid “final” in a last-ditch attempt to convince shareholders to accept the deal.
Tourism chiefs met for an emergency meeting yesterday on worries the UK’s £130mln will be hurt by recent terrorist attacks, according to City AM. The Tourism Industry Emergency Response (Tier) Group gathered to discuss what impact the latest London attack would have on the industry.
John Menzies will demerge with Fleet Street after almost two centuries in newspapers to concentrate on looking after aircraft, The Times reports. The company has announced a merger with DX, a specialist courier company, that effectively reverses Menzies’ newspaper and magazines logistics business into DX’s stock market listing.
Commodities/currencies
Gold: up US$9 to US$1,292
Oil (WTI): up 7c to US$47.97
£/$ - US$1.2911 pound higher