Leading stocks in London are higher on the whole this morning, with the FTSE 100 higher by 35 points. The pound is little changed at the start of what could be a pivotal week for the currency, with the latest round of PMI releases due out as well as a “Super Thursday” Bank of England rate decision, including the quarterly inflation report.
HSBC stock hits 4-year high
Investors have reacted positively to the latest earnings release from HSBC after the bank posted a second quarter of revenue growth and announced plans for further share buybacks. News of the $2 billion worth of stock to be repurchased is the brightest point in a pleasing report and will mean the bank has now announced $5.5 billion worth of share buybacks in the past year. HSBC is one of the best performers on the index having risen by around 2.5% to trade at a year-to-date high, and you have to go back to 2013 to find a higher stock price than that seen the morning for the London-based bank.
Chinese data remains solid
The beginning of a week that will see the release of PMI data from several major economies has gotten off to a fairly positive start, with the latest surveys from China showing a fair pace of expansion. The growth seen in both manufacturing and nonmanufacturing sectors suggests that the world’s second largest economy continues to perform well and this positivity has fed through to mining stocks on the FTSE with Anglo American (LON:AAL), Glencore (LON:GLEN) and Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) all on the rise.
Rolls-Royce (LON:RR) and Airlines under pressure
The worst performing stock of all the UK’s blue-chips is Rolls-Royce after the company’s executives adopted a cautious tone over their cash flow target. Shares in the manufacturing firm are off by almost 4% after comments over the weekend suggests it is concerned investors are ignoring the significant market challenges faced by the company after the stock has seen an impressive run-up of 40% year-to-date.