London’s stock markets gets off to a firm start in early deals on Monday as it closes in on a return to 7,500 record territory achieved last week. The FTSE 100 index adds around 25 points, or 0.25%, to 7,496.
Weekend press reports provide some of the news flow on Monday. Banking group Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is thought to be gearing up for a battle with shareholders relating back to its handling of the financial mess that nearly saw its collapse. RBS shares remain flat on Monday at 263.4p.
Italian investigators have apparently seized documents from the Milan offices of IBM as part of an investigation into allegations of fraud at one of its customers, BT Italy, a unit of Britain's BT (BT.A), Reuters is reporting. Shares in the telecoms giant nudge 0.3% higher to 312.6p, continuing the modes rally following disappointing full year results announce on 11 May.
Oil service firm John Wood Group (WG.) has secured a contract to support one of the world’s biggest offshore oil and gas projects in Russia. The Sakhalin Energy, which runs the Sakhalin-2 project, has award Wood Group the deal that extends its already strong relationship together. Wood Group shares rise 2p to 781p.
Payment services supplier Paysafe (PAYS) comes under selling pressure as reports link potential increasing regulation in China. Shares in the £2.3bn buisness slide 3.3% to 467.2p.
The European Union is expected to propose that clearing of euro denominated securities should be moved from London to the continent after Brexit, Euronext chief executive Stephane Boujnah said on Friday.
And insurers claims that companies without cyber insurance are dusting off policies covering kidnap, ransom and extortion in the world's political hotspots to recoup losses caused by ransomware viruses such as the ‘WannaCry’ which ground IT services around the world to a halt, including large part of the NHS.
Fintech firm Statpro (SOG:AIM) has updated the market, saying it is in line with market expectations and shows ongoing migration of asset management clients to its soft-as-a-service platform Revolution. The shares remain flat at 124p.
Shares in quantum dot technology designer for TVs and displays Nanoco (NANO:AIM) rise a little more than 2% to 44p as the company agrees a development deal with LEDs specialist Kyulux. The pair are exploring ways to design nex generation organic light emitting diode (OLED) technology.
Billing software supplier to telcos Cerillion (CER:AIM) sees its share price increase by nearly 3% to 145.5p on robust half year results to 31 March 2017. The figures show 10% revenue increases with a 29% jump in recurring income. Adjusted pre-tax profit is up 31%.
