UK were firmer at the open on Monday, taking their cue from positive grey market trading on Wall Street and strong Asian gains, after the Bank of Japan expanded its monetary stimulus again.
The benchmark FTSE 100 rallied a fraction off 100 point, or 1.7%, to 5,851.95, while the mid cap FTSE 250 charged 2% higher at 15,996.93.
Asia markets have got off to a positive start as a raft of countries get ready to lift restrictions on the various states of lockdown in their economies. In the UK, the anticipated return to work of Prime Minister Boris Johnson today will be timely given the increasing political pressure on the government to do something similar, as infection and death rates continue to fall.
COMPANY NEWS
In corporate news insurance group Admiral (ADM) said it would suspend a special dividend of 20.7p a share but stick with its final payout, citing a strong solvency position. Regulators last month pressed companies to pull dividends to save cash to mitigate the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
Admiral shares rose 1.6% to £23.45.
Power equipment supplier Ashtead (AHT) was high on the FTSE 100 leader board, up more than 4.5% to £19.13, after it said it would have free cash flow under all downside scenarios during the Covid-19 crisis despite the virus having an impact on its business.
Ashtead said it had modelled various outcomes for the coming year with business much lower than so far in 2020.
‘Under all these scenarios the group remains free cash flow positive throughout the next financial year’ and well above a minimum available liquidity of $460m under a covenant threshold. Ashtead also reconfirmed that it expected underlying pre-tax profit for the year ending 30 April to be about €1.05bn.
Hotels group InterContinental Hotels (IHG) rallied more than 5% to £35.34 after announcing that it had secured new financing arrangements to strengthen its liquidity position.
InterContinental Hotels also said its performance in China had continued to improve, though ongoing Covid-19 lockdowns were still hurting revenue elsewhere.
BP ON THE RISE
Oil major BP (BP.) rose 1.3% to 312.45p after it confirmed that it was progressing the sale of Alaskan assets for $5.6bn to Hilcorp, as previously planned, despite the oil-price rout.
House builder Redrow (RDW) advanced 1.7% to 458.8p as it announced plans to start a phased return to construction at its building sites on 18 May.
Renewable energy fund Greencoat UK Wind (UKW) added 1.2% to 139.6p, having agreed to acquire the 240 megawatt South Kyle wind farm in Scotland from Sweden's Vattenfall for £320m.
Real estate investor UK Commercial Property REIT (UKCM) nudged 0.6% higher at 60.6p as it reduced its quarterly dividend by half after some if its tenants were unable to pay rent on time due to the Covid-19 crisis.
Storage group Lok’nStore (LOK) jumped nearly 8% to 575p as it declared a higher interim dividend, despite reporting a fall in first-half profit.
SMALL CAP MOVERS
Recruitment and training company Staffline (STAF:AIM) jumped 11% to 32p on news that it had appointed former Severfield (SFR) chief executive Ian Lawson as its executive chairman.
Staffline said it was 'cautiously optimistic' about achieving a positive result for the year through December 2020 on an underlying operating earnings basis, despite disruptions caused by the Covid-19 crisis.
Disease testing kit supplier Omega Diagnostics (ODX:AIM) jumped more than 47% to 56p after it announced that CE-marked partner Mologic's first generation antibody test for Covid-19.
Professional services group RPS (RPS) rallied 14.5% to 45p having sourced another £60m from its banking lenders and agreed new loan covenants tests.
Market research agency System1 (SYS1:AIM) stayed flat at 97.5p despite its warning of a lower annual profit, scrapping its dividend and suspending a share buyback after its sales were hit in the fourth quarter by the Covid-19 crisis.
