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UK stocks open 1% higher on vaccine optimism; oil strength
StockMarketWire.com
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UK stocks got off to a strong start on Monday, buoyed by mounting vaccine optimism and a further recovery in oil prices.
At 0818, the benchmark FTSE 100 index was up 65.26 points, or 1.0%, at 6,655.05.
BP rose 2.4% to 267.96p and Shell rose 3.1% to £14.008.
Pub group Mitchells & Butlers climbed 1.2% to 332.5p, even as it announced an up to £350 million discounted share to help it weather the pandemic.
The new shares would be offered at 210p each, a 36% discount to the company's closing price on Friday.
Mitchells & Butlers also agreed to a £150 million credit facility and debt covenant waivers with its banks, conditional on the equity raising being completed.
Aircraft engineer Rolls-Royce advanced 1.3% to 94.1p following news that it had appointed Panos Kakoullis as its new chief financial officer, to replace Stephen Daintith.
Kakoullis had spent most of his career at Deloitte, where he was, until May 2019, global head of its audit and assurance practice.
Telecom giant Vodafone added 0.4% to 134.47p, having reaffirmed annual guidance for its Vantage Towers infrastructure business, which it is planning to spin off later this year.
The unit's underlying pro-forma earnings the 2021 financial year were still expected at between €520 million and €530 million, on revenue of €955 million-to-€970 million.
Fund management services provider JTC rose 0.9% to 647.99p after it acquired alternative investment focused Indos for up to £12.5 million.
Consumer goods group UP Global Sourcing, otherwise known as Ultimate Products, shed 0.4% to 143.5p on news that it had acquired German kitchen electrical brand Petra, for an undisclosed sum.
Ultimate Products said said it planned to relaunch and refresh the Petra brand. The company was founded in 1968 in Bavaria and originally specialised in coffee machines.
Marketing and media consultancy Ebiquity jumped 8.1% to 20.7p, having guided for a 'small' annual loss after returning to profit in the second half.
Respiratory drug focused Synairgen firmed 4.0% to 195.49p as it kicked off dosing for a sub-study investigating an inhaled treatment for mild-to-moderate Covid-19 symptoms, for patients not yet requiring hospitalisation.
The new study was in addition to an ongoing study assessing the efficacy of inhaled interferon beta in hospitalised patients with Covid-19.
Immunodiagnostics group Oncimmune gained 2.7% to 177.08p after it posted a narrower first-half loss, on the back of higher revenue and lower R&D spending.
Story provided by StockMarketWire.com
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