LONDON MARKETS: FTSE 100 Scores 6th Win In A Row As Oil Shares, Shire Rally
24 April 2018 - 06:31PM
Dow Jones News
By Carla Mozee and Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch
U.K. stocks rose on Tuesday as an advance in oil shares pushed
the blue-chips index to a sixth consecutive advance and helped it
outperform the broader European equity market.
A rally for Shire shares after a fifth takeover proposal from
Takeda also helped lift U.K. stocks.
How markets are performing
The FTSE 100 index rose 0.4% to end at 7,425.40, closing above
the 7,400 level for the first time since early February.
The pound bought $1.3970, recovering from an intraday low of
$1.3918, and rising from $1.3939 late Monday in New York.
Read: Stock investors are freaking out about bonds ending a bull
run--but should they be?
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-stock-market-is-freaking-out-up-about-the-bond-marketbut-should-it-be-2018-04-21)
Also:Here's why the pound got whipped this week--and why it may
bounce back to $1.44
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/heres-why-the-pound-got-whipped-this-week-and-why-it-may-bounce-back-to-144-2018-04-20)
What's driving the market
Oil companies were among the best performers, riding on the back
of higher oil prices. The moves came as Brent crude prices traded
above $75 a barrel
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/brent-oil-breaks-above-75-on-fears-iran-sanctions-are-looming-2018-04-24),
the highest since 2014, as tensions between Saudi Arabia and Yemen
heated up. Also, speculation that U.S. sanctions on Iran will be
put back in place in May helped push up Brent and oil prices .
The rally for oil stocks also helped offset weakness from news
that U.S. 10-year yields jumped to the psychologically important 3%
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/yields-pull-back-as-us-10-year-government-bond-march-to-3-stalls-2018-04-24).
Higher yields typically weigh on stocks as bonds start to offer
better returns than equities and push up borrowing costs for
companies.
The moves in the U.S. knocked European stocks lower
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/european-stocks-hold-at-2-month-highs-as-energy-names-rally-2018-04-24),
with the Stoxx European 600 index ending down 0.02% after trading
at a more than two-months high earlier in the session.
What are strategists saying?
"It is this move higher in crude oil prices, along with the rise
in demand, that is helping fuel the recent rise in yields as well
as the positive tone for equity markets, however if it continues
too far we could start to see it act as a drag on equity markets,
if prices along with yields start to move even higher," said
Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets, in a note.
Share movers
Shire PLC shares (SHPG) (SHPG) jumped 3.4% after Japanese
drugmaker Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. (4502.TO) made a fifth takeover
proposal for its U.K. rival
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/takeda-makes-fifth-takeover-bid-for-shire-2018-04-24-104853948).
None of the companies disclosed the financial terms of the
proposal, but the value of the rare-drug specialist is expected to
be abpt more than $60 billion.
Shares of oil producers BP PLC (BP.LN) (BP.LN) tacked on 2.3%
and Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA.LN) (RDSA.LN) rose 1.2% as oil
prices moved up.
London Stock Exchange Group PLC shares (LSE.LN) rose 2% as the
exchange operator said first-quarter gross profit rose 13%
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/london-stock-exchange-profit-rises-2018-04-24)
after generating double-digit income growth for all its core
business units.
William Hill PLC shares (WMH.LN) tumbled 13% on the midcap FTSE
250 (WMH.LN) after a report by The Times newspaper
(https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/hammond-accepts-2-limit-for-addictive-gambling-machines-wvqhcln95)
that the U.K. government is set to reduce the maximum bet to GBP2
for fixed odds betting terminals.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 24, 2018 12:16 ET (16:16 GMT)
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