Sky shares fly high but fail to lift FTSE 100
SKY shot to the top of the FTSE 100 yesterday after Comcast won the long-running battle for the broadcaster with a £30 billion bid.
Shares in the company closed higher by 136.5p, or 8.6 per cent to 1,721.5p in the first trading session since Saturday’s dramatic end to one of the City’s most complex and convoluted takeover sagas in recent memory.
Sky issued a statement on Monday morning recommending the takeover bid to shareholders, calling it an “excellent” offer.
But the boost to the company’s shares failed to lift the blue-chip index as European markets dipped into the red thanks to further trade tensions.
The FTSE 100 ended the day 31.82 points, or 0.42 per cent, lower at 7,458.41.
The latest batch of tariffs in a dispute between the US and China kicked in, dampening the mood across the markets. In France, the CAC 40 was 0.33 per cent lower and the German Dax was down 0.64 per cent.
“There is a growing sense that the trade spat will drag on, and this is weighing on sentiment,” commented CMC Markets UK analyst David Madden.
Beijing has now confirmed it will not hold trade talks with the US until President Donald Trump stops
31 Points fall of the FTSE 100 Index
in London last night
threatening more tariffs, lowering hopes of an imminent resolution.
The pound was up despite weaker industrial trends data, regaining some of the ground lost during Prime Minister Theresa May’s speech at Downing Street last week, which many investors saw as a signal that a no-deal Brexit is more likely.
Sterling was trading up 0.43 per cent at 1.313 US dollars and up 0.44 per cent at 1.115 euros.
But Fiona Cincotta, senior market analyst at City Index, warned: “The optimism may be premature because the dollar is treading water ahead of the next Federal Reserve rate setting meeting this week.”
A barrel of Brent crude was trading at 81.16 US dollars, hovering near its highest price in four years – after oil cartel Opec held back from boosting output.
Without the world’s largest crude producers planning to increase oil output, prices are expected to continue their ascent.
The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Sky, up 136.5p to 1,721.5p, Randgold Resources up 297p to 5,220p, NMC Health up 52p to 3,362p and Informa up 11.4p to 746.8p.
The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were Intertek Group, down 155p to 4,796p, Tui down 42p to 1,382p, Antofagasta down 23.8p to 872p, and Severn Trent down 47.5p to 1,831p.