London open: Stocks edge higher amid whirl of deal news
London stocks edged higher on Tuesday as sunburnt traders returned to their desks from the baking Bank Holiday weekend to find a flurry of deal news, with the latest Chinese trade data in focus as investors eyed an announcement by US President Trump over the Iran nuclear deal.
At 0820 BST, the FTSE 100 was up 0.2% to 7,584.93, while the pound was up 0.1% against the dollar and the euro to 1.3568 and 1.1381, respectively.
London Capital Group analyst Jasper Lawler said: "Repeated criticism from Tump over the US Iranian nuclear disarmament deal has traders fearing that a withdrawal from Trump could see US sanctions being re-imposed on Iran. These sanctions would almost certainly include reductions to the country’s oil exports, jolting the oil market and lifting the price of oil in recent sessions."
Trump tweeted on Monday: "I will be announcing my decision on the Iran deal tomorrow from the White House."
Lawler said the tweet was rather unexpected, given that the US-Iran nuclear pact deadline runs until Saturday 12th May.
"Usually an earlier than expected announcement from negotiations could be considered a positive sign, but the markets are not so sure this time round, which may be wise given Trump’s unpredictability. That said, the selloff in oil could just be a sign of a spooked market that was caught off guard, longer than it intends to be with such a big risk event suddenly upon it."
Data out of China earlier showed the country's exports bounced back in April more strongly than expected. Exports were up 12.9% from a year earlier, beating expectations for a 6.3% jump and rebounding from a 2.7% fall in March.
Still to come on the UK data front, Halifax house prices for April are due at 0830 BST.
In UK corporate news, deal news helped to inject some life into proceedings, with Virgin Money racking up healthy gains after Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank owner CYBG made an all-share takeover approach that values its FTSE 250 rival at £1.6bn. CYBG picked up slightly and fellow challenger banks Metro Bank and OneSavings both rallied.
Shire gained as its board agreed a takeover offer from Japan's Takeda Pharmaceutical in a mix of cash and shares that values the FTSE 100 biotech at roughly £46bn. Three Shire directors will join Takeda's board as part of the deal.
Buy-to-let property lender Paragon Banking Group edged higher after it confirmed that it is considering a possible acquisition of residential development finance lender Titlestone, while US cable network Comcast made various assurances around its bid for satellite broadcaster Sky.
Referring to an earlier proposed deal, the Competition & Markets Authority said it has referred the proposed merger of SSE's retail business and Npower for an in-depth investigation after finding competition concerns.
AstraZeneca pushed up after saying it had sold the rights to its antipsychotic treatment Seroquel to Luye Pharma for $538m, while bookmaker William Hill rose after it said net revenue for the first 17 weeks of the year was up 3% thanks to strong online and US performances.
Chilean copper miner Antofagasta was higher after saying it had detected and cleared a blockage at its Los Pelambres pipeline, where operation was immediately suspended, but that full-year production remained unchanged.
Oil giant Royal Dutch Shell was little changed after agreeing to sell its entire in Canadian Natural Resources for $3.3bn.
Standard Life Aberdeen nudged down as it said Lloyds Banking Group did not have the right to withdraw £109bn of funds. The fund manager said Lloyds was wrong to state in February that the merger between Standard Life and Aberdeen Asset Management made the combined company a competitor.
Insurer Hiscox ticked a touch lower as it said gross written premiums grew by 20.3% in the first three months of the year but warned that growth in big-ticket business for the rest of the year will be more measured..
In broker note action, Just Group was initiated at 'hold' by Deutsche Bank.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,584.93 0.24%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,524.90 0.50%
techMARK (TASX) 3,443.53 0.13%
FTSE 100 - Risers
ITV (ITV) 154.22p 1.97%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 2,119.67p 1.57%
Old Mutual (OML) 254.70p 1.39%
Associated British Foods (ABF) 2,743.00p 1.37%
Kingfisher (KGF) 284.80p 1.28%
Evraz (EVR) 487.30p 1.18%
Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 492.63p 1.16%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 777.80p 1.14%
Halma (HLMA) 1,263.00p 1.12%
Imperial Brands (IMB) 2,628.50p 1.10%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 830.60p -0.62%
Vodafone Group (VOD) 209.20p -0.62%
Sky (SKY) 1,365.00p -0.55%
CRH (CRH) 2,652.00p -0.41%
Royal Mail (RMG) 596.80p -0.33%
NMC Health (NMC) 3,534.00p -0.28%
Barclays (BARC) 205.05p -0.27%
Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,295.00p -0.23%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,598.56p -0.18%
Diageo (DGE) 2,659.00p -0.15%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Metro Bank (MTRO) 3,412.00p 5.18%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 237.50p 4.67%
RHI Magnesita N.V. (DI) (RHIM) 4,748.00p 4.35%
OneSavings Bank (OSB) 410.60p 3.84%
Weir Group (WEIR) 2,249.00p 3.55%
BGEO Group (BGEO) 3,404.00p 2.65%
Purecircle Limited (DI) (PURE) 398.50p 2.18%
Rank Group (RNK) 176.00p 2.09%
Fidelity China Special Situations (FCSS) 245.75p 1.97%
Ted Baker (TED) 2,760.00p 1.92%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
CYBG (CYBG) 310.80p -2.26%
Greencoat UK Wind (UKW) 119.99p -1.48%
Fidelity European Values (FEV) 216.00p -1.37%
Spire Healthcare Group (SPI) 225.00p -1.32%
Wetherspoon (J.D.) (JDW) 1,145.00p -1.29%
ZPG Plc (ZPG) 370.64p -1.11%
Capita (CPI) 197.90p -1.05%
F&C Global Smaller Companies (FCS) 1,370.60p -1.04%
Polymetal International (POLY) 719.64p -1.04%
PZ Cussons (PZC) 241.60p -0.90%