Brexit jitters take shares down a little DAVID MYRDDIN-EVANS
UK shares dropped slightly on Monday, finishing 0.11% lower on jitters about Brexit negotiations and the political turmoil in Spain. Theresa May was under pressure to intervene personally to try and break the so-called “deadlock” in Brexit negotiations.
On the corporate front, ITV was lifted by an upgrade to “buy” at HSBC, and AstraZeneca benefited after Credit Suisse upgraded the stock to “outperform”.
On Tuesday morning stocks were flat as the UK’s inflation data was released.
The FTSE 100 index was up 0.2% overall last week and hit a record closing high on Thursday.
On Friday, the blue-chip index slipped 0.3% as the pound strengthened. But mining shares did well on Chinese trade data: Rio Tinto gained 3% while Glencore added 2.4%.
The FTSE 100 closed at 7.556 on Thursday, beating its previous peak back in May. St James’s Place led the risers, up 4.1% on positive broker comment ahead of its quarterly results.
Utilities also rallied after the Government published its draft bill to cap energy tariffs. SSE rose 2.5% while Centrica added 1.9%.
Wednesday saw Whitbread, the owner of Premier Inn and Costa Coffee, add 3.4% amid talk of a potential break-up.
But Mondi lost 7.8% after warning its full-year results will miss expectations. The packaging and paper maker blamed a rise in the cost of wood, energy and chemicals, plus a weaker dollar and Turkish lira. Overall, the FTSE 100 was down 0.1%.
The blue-chip index finished 0.4% higher last Tuesday as stocks got a lift from better-than-expected industrial and manufacturing data.
Persimmon was up 2.4% and Royal Bank of Scotland gained 2% after broker upgrades. Burberry advanced 2.2% after positive results from LVMH buoyed the luxury goods sector.