UK stocks rallied sharply on Tuesday morning, their first day back after the Brexit deal announced before the Christmas break.
However, gains slowly ebbed away as the session wore on after US markets were pulled lower by tech stocks, despite the approval of a combined $2.3 trillion Covid-19 relief and government funding package
At the close the benchmark FTSE 100 index was up 100 points or 1.5% at 6,603 points, compared with a rise of more than 2.5% during the morning. Gains in stocks with overseas earnings were offset by heavy losses for the banks as lower gilt yields presaged continued low interest rates.
The pound was 0.3% stronger against the US dollar at $1.35 while Brent crude oil prices rallied 1% to $51.41 per barrel.
CORPORATE NEWS ROUND UP
Shares in pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca (AZN) climbed 3.3% to £74.62 after it said its cancer drug Lynparza had been approved in Japan for advanced ovarian, prostate and pancreatic cancers.
The approvals by the Japanese Ministry of Health followed positive phase three trials published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Insurance company Admiral Group (ADM) said it had reached an agreement to sell Penguin Portals and Preminen comparison businesses to RVU, the comparison division of ZPG for £508 million.
Under the terms of the agreement, RVU purchased Penguin Portals Group including online comparison portals Confused.com, Rastreator.com and LeLynx.fr and the group's technology operation Admiral Technologies and the company's 50% share of Preminen Price Comparison.
The proceeds to Admiral, net of minority interests and transaction costs, would be around £450 million. The shares climbed 3.3% to an all-time high of £30.21.
Betting company William Hill (WHM) said the remaining approvals required from the relevant US gaming authorities would be obtained in time to allow completion of its £2.9 billion sale to Caesars early in the second quarter of 2021, but possibly as early as March 2021. The shares drifted off 0.1% to 269p.
Property company Stenprop (STP) said it had exchanged contracts on the sale of its freehold interest in the Hermann Quartier shopping centre in Berlin, Germany to ILG Capital GmbH for €30.8 million.
The disposal price was in line with the 30 September book value and reflected a 19% premium to the 31 March 2020 valuation, the company said. The shares fell 0.7% t0 134p.
Real estate investment trust Supermarket Income REIT (SUPR) said it had acquired a Waitrose supermarket in Market Harborough, Leicestershire from Alpha Real Estate for £9.1 million, representing a net initial yield of 4.3%. The shares added 0.5% to 106.5p.
Shares in investment company Apax Global Alpha (APAX) advanced 4.7% to 201p on Tuesday after it announced the acquisition of the Software Products business from 3i Infotech, a global information technology company.
The transaction is expected to close in early 2021, subject to shareholder and regulatory approvals. In addition, it said it had disposed of its stake in Boats group, an online marketplace and provider of software solutions for the recreational marine industry.
The sale was made to funds advised by private equity group Permira and is expected to close by the end of the first quarter of 2021, reaping an internal rate of return of 41%, said the company.
Shares in cybersecurity and risk management group Shearwater (SWG:AIM) raced 10% higher to 154p after it said third-quarter trading had continued to ‘be buoyant with recognised revenues for October and November 39% ahead of the same two months in the prior year’ and that strong momentum had continued into December.
