(Alliance News) – London’s FTSE 100 faltered on Monday to close unchanged as New York markets got off to a lackluster start to a session cut short due to Independence Day.
Miners remained supportive of hopes for economic stimulus in China, but AstraZeneca slumped on concerns that a new lung cancer drug might not be as effective as hoped.
“The start of July was rather calm for European markets, with an initially positive European opening that gave way to a more mixed session, with US markets only opening for a short period before the Christmas Day holiday. Independence,” commented Michael Hewson, an analyst at CMC Markets.
The FTSE 100 index lost 4.27 points, or 0.1%, to 7,527.26, well below its intraday high of 7,561.26. The FTSE 250 index ended up 91.01 points, or 0.5%, at 18,507.77. AIM All-Share rose 0.80 points, or 0.1%, to 754.31.
The Cboe UK 100 was down 0.1% at 750.82, the Cboe UK 250 was up 0.6% at 16,192.78, while the Cboe Small Companies was down 0.4% at 13,661, 36.
In Europe, the CAC 40 in Paris closed down 0.2%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt fell 0.4%.
US markets got off to a weak start after two manufacturing surveys showed the sector continued to weaken. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.1%, the S&P 500 index was flat, while the Nasdaq Composite index lost 0.1%.
Financial markets in New York will close early at 6:00 p.m. BST on Monday, 1 p.m. local time, and will remain closed on Tuesday for the Independence Day holiday.
The S&P Global Purchasing Managers’ Index fell to 46.3 points in June from 48.4 in May, sinking further below the neutral 50.0 point mark.
The Institute for Supply Management’s Purchasing Managers’ Index was also dismal, falling to 46.0 points in June from 46.9 in May.
Tesla shares jumped 5.9% after investors hailed a strong production update over the weekend as car deliveries beat expectations.
During the second quarter, the electric vehicle maker reported deliveries of 466,140 vehicles, an increase of 83% over the previous year. The total is also higher than analysts’ forecast of 450,000.
As competition intensifies in the electric vehicle sector, Tesla has made several price cuts in the United States, Europe and Asia this year. This measure also enabled it to cope with the drop in demand in China.
It’s a bet that “seems to be paying off”, said Susannah Streeter of Hargreaves Lansdown.
Gains in London were limited by comments from new Bank of England policymaker Megan Greene, who warned of the dangers of complacency in the fight against inflation, hinting it could support further interest rate hikes in the UK.
“It would be a mistake for central bankers to comfort themselves with the idea that inflation and rates will automatically return to the low levels we saw before the pandemic,” she wrote in an article in the Financial Times. “That’s their challenge for the future.
Mining stocks rose on hopes of a revival in China. China’s manufacturing sector recorded a more moderate rise in output last month, survey data showed.
The Caixin Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index rose from 50.9 to 50.5 points in May, slightly above the flash estimate of 50.2.
“Now that disappointment over a slower-than-expected post-Covid recovery has subsided, attention is turning to potential financial stimuli and support, which could have positive implications for demand for metals and energy. “commented Russ Mould, analyst at AJ Bell.
Anglo American and Glencore took the top two spots on the FTSE 100 list of risers, rising 4.1% and 3.3% respectively.
Oil prices were supported by production cuts in Russia and Saudi Arabia. A barrel of Brent was trading at 75.92 USD at the close of the London Stock Exchange on Monday, against 75.58 USD. It had reached as high as 76.55 USD in the morning.
Saudi Arabia has announced it is extending a voluntary oil production cut of one million barrels a day, in a bid to prop up falling prices. The reduction, which first took effect in July, will continue in August and “may be extended”, the official Saudi Press Agency reported, citing an energy ministry source.
Russia’s top energy official meanwhile said Moscow would voluntarily cut its oil exports by 500,000 barrels a day, on top of previously announced production cuts.
Alexander Novak said the move was intended to ensure “the oil market remains balanced”.
BP shares rose 2.9%, Shell 1.6% and Harbor Energy 4.1%.
The pound was quoted at $1.2675 at the close of London stock markets on Monday, down from $1.2706 on Friday. The Euro traded at $1.0905, down from $1.0916. Against the yen, the dollar was quoted at 144.59 yen, little change from 144.58 yen.
The slowdown in the British manufacturing sector continued in June. The S&P Global/CIPS manufacturing PMI fell to 46.5 points in June, its lowest level in six months, from 47.1 in May.
In the eurozone, the Hamburg Commercial Bank’s manufacturing PMI fell to 43.4 points in June from 44.8 in May, its lowest level since May 2020.
In London, shares of AstraZeneca fell 8.0% after results from a trial of its lung cancer drug Dato-DXd disappointed.
AstraZeneca is working with Tokyo-listed Daiichi Sankyo, with whom it also collaborated on the drug Enhertu.
In patients with locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer who received at least one prior therapy, Dato-DXd demonstrated a “statistically significant” improvement for the dual primary endpoint of progression-free survival compared to docetaxel, the current standard chemotherapy.
However, for the dual primary endpoint of overall survival, the data “was not ripe”.
“An early trend was observed in favor of [Dato-DXd] compared to docetaxel, but it did not meet the pre-specified level of statistical significance in this interim analysis,” AstraZeneca said.
Jefferies analysts said the results look “likely to fall short of the best case.”
The investment bank noted that details were limited, as expected, and that the results were meant to provide “compelling evidence”, suggesting less pronounced profit than hoped, in our view, as well as “a few” related deaths. grade 5 ILD.
Gold was quoted at $1,927.00 at the London close on Monday, up from $1,915.48 on Friday.
Craig Erlam, analyst at Oanda, commented: “Gold has struggled in recent weeks amid persistent inflation, strong economic data and, as a result, higher interest rate expectations. We see it bouncing back a bit in the last two sessions after briefly dipping below $1900, but the trend is still very unfavorable.”
By Jeremy Cutler, reporter at Alliance News
Comments and questions to newsroom@alliancenews.com
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2023-07-03 04:07:31
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