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London open: Stocks gain as deal news boosts sentiment
London stocks rose in early trade on Monday, with deal news boosting sentiment.
At 0830 BST, the FTSE 100 was up 0.5% at 7,912.86.
Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “Cautious optimism is the Monday motivation mantra, as stronger US corporate news and signs of consumer resilience help to mask ongoing worries about the knock-on effect of higher interest rates.”
In equity markets, Network International rocketed after the payments firm said it has received a non-binding proposal from a consortium of CVC and Francisco Partners about a cash offer of 387p a share. Network said that having “carefully evaluated” the proposal with its financial advisers, it was minded to recommend it should a firm intention to make an offer be announced.
Wood Group also surged as the oil and gas engineering firm said it had decided to engage with US private equity group Apollo to see if a firm offer can be made on a potential £1.66bn takeover. Wood has rejected four proposals from Apollo but has now decided to grant access to documents for due diligence after a fifth approach at 240p a share.
International Distribution Services rose after it emerged over the weekend that Royal Mail and the Communication Workers Union had reached an agreement on pay and employment terms.
Qinetiq rallied as it lifted its full-year guidance following an “impressive” fourth-quarter performance.
In terms of sectors, heavily-weighted miners were the best performers, with Anglo American, Rio, Antofagasta and Glencore all trading up.
Top 10 FTSE 100 Risers
| Sponsored by Plus500 |
|
| # | Name | Change Pct | Change | Cur Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  |
Easyjet Plc | +3.50% | +17.10 | 505.20 |
| 2 |  |
International Consolidated Airlines Group S.a. | +2.30% | +3.35 | 149.30 |
| 3 |  |
Smurfit Kappa Group Plc | +1.88% | +56.00 | 3,034.00 |
| 4 |  |
Bp Plc | +1.77% | +9.60 | 550.60 |
| 5 |  |
Smith (ds) Plc | +1.68% | +5.40 | 326.60 |
| 6 |  |
Tesco Plc | +1.45% | +3.90 | 272.10 |
| 7 |  |
Bhp Group Limited | +1.40% | +34.50 | 2,502.00 |
| 8 |  |
Rio Tinto Plc | +1.32% | +72.00 | 5,534.00 |
| 9 |  |
Shell Plc | +1.30% | +32.00 | 2,494.00 |
| 10 |  |
Informa Plc | +1.28% | +8.80 | 695.20 |
Top 10 FTSE 100 Fallers
| Sponsored by Plus500 |
|
| # | Name | Change Pct | Change | Cur Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  |
St. James’s Place Plc | -0.98% | -12.00 | 1,210.50 |
| 2 |  |
Admiral Group Plc | -0.86% | -19.00 | 2,203.00 |
| 3 |  |
Prudential Plc | -0.77% | -9.00 | 1,160.00 |
| 4 |  |
Schroders Plc | -0.77% | -3.70 | 477.60 |
| 5 |  |
Spirax-sarco Engineering Plc | -0.73% | -85.00 | 11,555.00 |
| 6 |  |
3i Group Plc | -0.73% | -12.50 | 1,705.50 |
| 7 |  |
Segro Plc | -0.69% | -5.40 | 774.00 |
| 8 |  |
Barclays Plc | -0.61% | -0.96 | 156.92 |
| 9 |  |
Severn Trent Plc | -0.59% | -17.00 | 2,887.00 |
| 10 |  |
United Utilities Group Plc | -0.56% | -6.00 | 1,068.50 |
Monday newspaper round-up: Covid fraud, energy bills, National Grid
More than 1m small businesses may be paying energy bills significantly above market rates after becoming trapped in long-term contracts fixed when prices reached a historical peak last year. Trade groups representing businesses from metalworkers to convenience stores have joined forces to warn of a “perilous situation”. – Guardian
The former head of Britain’s financial crime prosecutor has said “red flags were ignored” in the rush to distribute taxpayer-funded emergency loans to businesses during the pandemic, and questioned whether fraud was taken seriously by the government. Parliament’s spending watchdog estimates fraud and error were likely to have cost the UK government as much as £16bn across the various Covid loan schemes, including those for small businesses. – Guardian
National Grid is preparing to pay people to reduce their electricity usage at peak times again next winter as it draws up plans to keep the lights on without emergency back-up coal plants. Millions of pounds were paid to households that took part in the “demand flexibility service” last winter by rescheduling energy-intensive activities such as cooking or using washing machines. – The Times
The CBI’s board is facing criticism from senior industry figures for its decision to turn to insiders to steer it through misconduct allegations, with the appointment of Rain Newton-Smith facing fresh scrutiny from politicians and business leaders. Writing in The Times today, Ann Francke, chief executive of the Chartered Management Institute, said the lobby group had “remained within its own boardroom to identify what actually needs to change, and how”. – The Times
One of Britain’s biggest outsourcing companies was tonight scrambling to figure out if sensitive data had been stolen from its systems after a Russian-speaking cyber gang posted a cache of documents online. Capita, which holds public sector contracts worth billions of pounds including enforcing the BBC licence fee, said it had “not been able to confirm” whether the files posted online were taken from its systems. – Telegraph
