LONDON MARKETS: FTSE 100 Advances As BP Rises, Manufacturing Activity Hits 3-year High

Ocado, M&S to start talking about tie-up: report; Shire shares rise

U.K. stocks rose Tuesday, with trading in May kicking off with BP PLC and Shire PLC gaining after earnings reports. A report showing British manufacturing activity hit a three-year high also helped to lift sentiment.

The FTSE 100 rose 0.6% to close at 7,250.05, with all but the basic materials sector moving higher. Equity trading was closed Monday for a Bank Holiday. Last week, the benchmark ended April trade with a 1.6% loss, in part because the pound surged more than 3% against the dollar over the month.

"Investors remain bullish as they return from the long weekend, sentiment buoyed by positive PMI manufacturing data from Europe offsetting soft prints from China and underwhelming reads from the U.S. They are also clearly choosing to ignore sound bites from [U.S. President Donald] Trump about breaking up the banks and allegedly frosty Brexit talks between the U.K. and Europe," wrote Accendo Markets head of research Mike van Dulken.

Data: The manufacturing sector PMI rose to 57.3 in April, outstripping a 54.1 estimate from FactSet, said Markit/CIPS. New orders and employment grew, and new export business was aided by the pound's decline.

The "April bounce-back in the manufacturing PMI effectively ends the recent underperformance of U.K. manufacturing vis-à-vis its eurozone equivalent," said Citi analysts in a research note.

The sector's "apparent April bounce provides the first evidence that the 1Q growth weakness may just have been a blip, reassuring hawks at the Bank of England about rate hikes and the U.K.'s Brexit negotiation team about a tough negotiation position," said Citi.

The British economy grew 0.3% in the first quarter (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/uk-economy-slows-sharply-ahead-of-election-2017-04-28), based on a preliminary reading, missing a 0.4% forecast.

The pound was buying $1.2920, up from $1.2885 late Monday in New York. Shares of multinational companies listed on the FTSE 100 can log losses when the pound rises, as it raises the prospect that earnings and revenue made overseas by multinationals will be dented.

Read:Trade talks with U.K. are still months away, says EU (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/eu-on-brexit-trade-talks-with-uk-are-still-months-away-2017-04-29)

Stock movers: BP PLC shares (BP.LN) (BP.LN) climbed 1.6% 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) also rose after BP's report, but pared its gain to 0.02% at the close. Shell will release its first-quarter report on Thursday. The oil and gas sector contributes a 14% weighting on the FTSE 100, according to FactSet data.

Shire PLC shares (SHPG) (SHPG) picked up 2.5% as the company posted first-quarter revenue that more than doubled to $3.57 billion (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/shire-profit-drops-11-revenue-more-than-doubles-2017-05-02). Profit, however, fell on higher sales-related costs.

But mining shares swung lower 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) flipped down 2.5%, Rio Tinto PLC (RIO) (RIO) (RIO) lost 0.5% and BHP Billiton PLC (BLT.LN) (BHP.AU) (BHP.AU) gave up 0.5%.

Fresnillo PLC (FRES.LN) and Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS.LN) (RRS.LN) also closed lower, by 2.8% and 2.1%, respectively.

Ocado Group PLC (OCDO.LN) shares surged 5.8% on the midcap FTSE 250 . The Telegraph newspaper reported Saturday that the online grocery delivery company and Marks & Spencer Group PLC (MKS.LN) (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. M&S shares were up 0.6%.

Aberdeen Asset Management PLC (ADN.LN) shares rallied 4.3% 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.

This week will be a busy one for investors as they will receive more 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.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 02, 2017 12:04 ET (16:04 GMT)