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Brexit-related sterling weakness helps FTSE 100 to gains
StockMarketWire.com
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A fall in the pound on negative mood music around the Brexit talks helped the FTSE 100 eke out gains by midday on Monday, up 0.7% to 6,594.16.
Weakness in sterling has a positive impact on the relative value of the overseas earnings which dominate the index. US stock futures implied a retreat from Friday's record levels when trading resumes on Wall Street later, as Covid cases continue to surge across the Atlantic.
The Brexit worries hit domestic-facing sectors like housebuilders and real estate with high end homes specialist Berkeley slumping 6.5% to £44.56 to become the biggest faller on the FTSE.
Cloud communication provider Imimobile jumped 47% to 591.25p after it accepted a £543 million takeover offer from networking company Cisco Systems.
Imimobile investors would get 595p a share, a 48% premium to the company's closing price on Friday.
Retailing group Frasers, formerly known as Sports Direct, fell 0.8% to 430.4p on confirming it was in negotiations with the administrators of Debenhams about a potential rescue transaction for the latter's UK operations.
Frasers, however, added that 'time is short' and that its position was complicated by the recent administration Arcadia, Debenhams' biggest concession holder.
Miniature wargames maker Games Workshop retreated from highs for the day to advance 1% to £99.75 as it guided for a 53% jump first-half profit, buoyed by bumper sales.
Games Workshop also declared an interim dividend of 60p per share, though that was down 40% year-on-year.
Home-improvement retailer Kingfisher ticked up 0.3% to 269.5p as it more than halved a cost-savings target, having decided to return rates relief received from the government due to the Covid-19 crisis.
Kingfisher said it now expected its annual pre-tax profit would include about £85 million of non-recurring cost savings, down from previous guidance of about £175 million.
Internet of things investor Telit Communications was 0.25% higher at 201.5p on announcing that a takeover offer lobbed by largest shareholder DBAY Advisers 'fundamentally' undervalued the company.
DBAY on Friday flagged a possible offer of £1.90 per share, but then announced it had bought some Telit shares at a highest price of £1.948. Under UK takeover rules, any offer would need to be at or above that price.
Real estate group Land Securities fell 2.3% to 709.1p after it acquired an office-led building at 55 Old Broad Street, London, from PGIM Real Estate for £87 million.
Fellow property group CLS dropped 3.5% to 219p as it exchanged contracts to acquire two office properties in Berlin, Germany, and Watford, United Kingdom, for a combined £55.9 million.
Alternative asset and corporate services provider Sanne shed 2.4% to 561p on announcing that it had acquired private equity fund administrator Private Equity Administrators from founders for up to €30.3 million.
Sanne also said it expected to deliver underlying earnings per share for the year ending 31 December in-line with expectations, 'despite the market backdrop remaining uncertain'.
Auto dealer Vertu Motors was 0.3% higher at 28p following news that it had acquired a market area of 12 sales outlets in England from Inchcape for £18.7 million, giving it a significant exposure to BMW and Mini vehicles.
Vertu also said its performance had remained ahead of prior year and original budget levels, with pre-tax profit in the nine months through November up around 15%.
Story provided by StockMarketWire.com
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