LONDON MARKETS: FTSE 100 Advances With BP Rising; Manufacturing Report On Deck

Ocado, M&S to start talking about tie-up: report

U.K. stocks marched higher Tuesday, with BP PLC gaining following the oil heavyweight's earnings report, ahead of an update from the U.K. manufacturing sector.

The FTSE 100 rose 0.6% to 7,245.28, with only the utilities sector declining modestly. The benchmark last week logged a gain of 1.3% (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ftse-100-falls-as-barclays-drops-pound-rises-ahead-of-gdp-data-2017-04-28). But for April, the London benchmark lost 1.6%, in part because the pound surged more than 3% against the dollar over the month.

Sterling on Tuesday was buying $1.2885, steady from late Monday in New York, before the release of an update on British manufacturing output. The April data are due at 9:30 a.m. London time, or 4:30 a.m. Eastern Time, and analysts polled by FactSet expect a 54.1 reading from Markit/CIPS.

Trading was closed Monday for a Bank Holiday. This week will be a busy one for investors as they will receive earnings reports, U.K. services-sector data, growth figures from the eurozone and the U.S. jobs report. The Federal Reserve's two-day meeting begins later Tuesday, with its interest rate decision due Wednesday. On Sunday, France will hold its presidential election.

Stock movers: BP PLC shares (BP.LN) (BP.LN) climbed 2.5% after the oil producer swung to a first-quarter profit of $1.4 billion. (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/bp-swings-to-profit-2017-05-02)

Shares of Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSB.LN) (RDSB.LN) were higher after BP's report, up 1.1%. The oil and gas sector contributes a 14% weighting on the FTSE 100, according to FactSet data.

Mining shares were mixed after a private gauge of China's factory activity slowed to a seven-month low in April (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/chinas-factory-output-slows-to-7-month-low-2017-05-01). China is a major buyer of industrial and precious metals.

In the mining sector, Anglo American PLC (AAL.LN) was up 0.3%, Rio Tinto PLC (RIO) (RIO) (RIO) gained 0.3%, and BHP Billiton PLC (BLT.LN) (BHP.AU) (BHP.AU) added 0.3%.

But Antofagasta PLC (ANTO.LN) fell 0.5%. Fresnillo PLC (FRES.LN) declined 2.1%, as did Randgold Resources PLC (RRS.LN) .

On the FTSE 250, Ocado Group PLC (OCDO.LN) shares surged 7.5%. The Telegraph newspaper reported Saturday that the online grocery delivery company and Marks & Spencer Group PLC (MKS.LN) will start discussing a possible tie-up (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2017/04/29/ms-ocado-plot-food-delivery-shake-up/) that could see M&S begin food-delivery service.

Aberdeen Asset Management PLC (ADN.LN) shares moved up 3.1% after the asset manager said it has completed plans to deliver 70 million pounds ($90.28 million) of annualized cost savings (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/aberdeen-asset-to-log-70-mln-in-cost-savings-2017-05-02). Aberdeen also said business outflows in the second quarter narrowed from the year-earlier period.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 02, 2017 04:06 ET (08:06 GMT)