LONDON MARKET CLOSE: Stocks rise on renewed hope for Ukraine talks

Fri, 11th Mar 2022 16:58

(Alliance News) - Stocks in London ended higher on Friday with investors buoyed by hopes of renewed negotiation between Russia and Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday that there were some "positive shifts" in talks, two weeks into Moscow's military campaign in Ukraine.

"There are certain positive shifts, negotiators from our side reported to me," Putin told his Belarus counterpart Alexander Lukashenko during a televised meeting in Moscow.

He added that negotiations are "now being held on an almost daily basis."

Russian and Ukrainian negotiators have held several rounds of talks since Putin sent in troops to the country on February 24. The talks have led to the opening of several humanitarian corridors to evacuate civilians from combat areas. Both sides have accused each other of blocking these efforts.

The FTSE 100 index closed up 50.92 points, or 0.7%, 7,150.01, but ended the week down 1.2%.

The FTSE 250 closed up 258.92 points, or 1.3%, at 20,214.47, ending up 0.8% for the week.

The AIM All-Share closed up 11.34 points, or 1.2%, at 994.89, but lost 1.0% for the week.

The Cboe UK 100 index closed up 0.9% at 711.52. The Cboe 250 ended up 1.4% at 17,782.67, and the Cboe Small Companies closed up 1.0% at 14,476.90.

In mainland Europe, the CAC 40 in Paris ended up 0.9%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt gained 1.4%.

"Putin's hints that negotiations might be showing some progress was enough to engender a rally across markets, although some of the optimism has been trimmed. There is as yet no sign of any real deal emerging and Russia's previous aims still appear to be in place, so this rally might go the way of so many others of late, with markets still unable to find the foundations for a sustainable bounce," said IG Group's Chris Beauchamp.

In the FTSE 100, Pearson ended the best performer, up 18%, after the education publisher confirmed on that Apollo Global Management had made two cash offers for the company in November and March.

However, the London-based company Pearson said it had rejected both offers made by the US private equity firm.

The move came after the New York-based firm made a separate statement earlier on Friday regarding "recent market speculation" around Pearson.

Pearson said the first proposal, received in November, was for a possible cash offer of 800 pence per share. Pearson rebuffed this offer. A second proposal at a price of 854.2p per share - including the 2021 dividend of 14.2p per share - was received in March. Pearson said it "considered" the offer but also "unanimously" rejected this offer.

Berkeley Group closed up 1.3% after the housebuilder backed annual guidance and said high sales pricing is absorbing rising construction costs.

The Cobham, Surrey-based firm stated that the value of underlying sales reservations remains "slightly" ahead of pre-pandemic levels.

Cancellations are also at normal rates and sales pricing is "sufficiently" ahead of its business plan to absorb construction cost increases, it continued.

As a result, the company continues to be on track to meet its earnings guidance and deliver pretax profit growth of around 5% per year for the next three financial years.

Further, this would see Berkeley on the path to achieving a pretax profit of GBP625 million for the year ending April 30, 2025. In financial 2021, the company reported a pretax profit of GBP518.1 million.

At the other end of the large-caps, Mexican precious metals miner Fresnillo ended the worst performer, down 4.7%, tracking spot gold prices lower. Midcap peer Hochschild Mining was the biggest faller, down 6.3%.

Gold stood at USD1,982.75 an ounce at the London equities close, depreciating against USD1,995.65 late Thursday.

British American Tobacco lost 1.0% after the Dunhill and Rothmans cigarette maker said it was offloading its Russian business as it "is no longer sustainable in the current environment".

Upon completion, BAT will no longer have a presence in Russia.

BAT also revised its 2022 guidance, with constant currency group revenue growth of 2% to 4% and mid-single figure constant currency adjusted diluted earnings per share growth now expected. Revenue was revised lower from the previously expected 3% to 5% growth.

Elsewhere, SIG closed up 5.6% after the building products supplier reported increased annual revenue and a narrowed loss for 2021 and said it was trading ahead of "ahead of plan" this year.

In 2021, the company narrowed its pretax loss to GBP15.9 million from GBP194.6 million in 2020. This was on a revenue rise of 22% to GBP2.29 billion from GBP1.87 billion the year before.

The company reported that it is trading "well" and ahead of its plan to date, helped by a continuation of the robust demand seen in late 2021.

The pound was quoted at USD1.3075 at the London equities close, down from USD1.3125 at the close Thursday.

The UK economy returned to growth in January, and has exceeded market expectations, data from the Office of National Statistics showed.

Gross domestic product expanded 0.8% from the previous month in January, rebounding from December's 0.2% drop, and was ahead of market consensus - provided by FXStreet - of 0.2% growth.

The ONS data showed industrial production growth was 0.7% in January versus the previous month, primarily driven by 0.8% growth in manufacturing.

This follows industrial production growth of 0.3% in December 2021. The market had predicted a measly 0.1% rise in industrial production, while manufacturing was guided to rise by 0.2%.

"The [GDP] data is outdated and is no reflection on the outlook for the rest of the year. The cost of living crisis and energy prices that will surge in the months ahead will put immense pressure on household budgets and businesses," Oanda Markets analyst Craig Erlam commented.

The euro stood at USD1.0955 at the European equities close, down from USD1.1007 late Thursday.

Against the yen, the dollar was trading five-year highs, quoted at JPY117.05 in London, up sharply from JPY116.05 late Thursday, ahead of the Bank of Japan's interest rate decision next week.

"With the BoJ likely to cut its forecasts for economic growth and inflation in the island nation remaining elusive despite rising energy and commodity prices, a dovish message out of Japan is likely," said Forex.com analyst Matthew Weller.

Stocks in New York were mostly higher at the London equities close as investors mulled the outlook for economic growth and inflation ahead of the Federal Reserve meeting next week.

The DJIA was up 0.7%, the S&P 500 index up 0.1% but the Nasdaq Composite was off 0.3%.

Markets are bracing for next week, when the Federal Reserve will convene its two-day policy meeting starting Tuesday and almost certainly raise interest rates from zero for the first time since the pandemic began.

On Wall Street, Facebook parent Meta was down 3.1% after it said it would temporarily ease its policy on violent speech in response to the invasion of Ukraine, and allow statements like "death to Russian invaders" but not credible threats against civilians.

Brent oil was quoted at USD111.92 a barrel at the equities close, down from USD112.45 at the close Thursday.

A light economic events calendar on Monday has Spain retail sales at 0800 GMT.

The UK corporate calendar on Monday has annual results from insurer Phoenix Group, pressing and coatings specialist Bodycote and TGI Fridays operator Hostmore.

By Arvind Bhunjun; arvindbhunjun@alliancenews.com