London’s FTSE-100 is struggling as the new week gets underway, with some broad-based losses being accrued.
Concern over an increasingly competitive market especially in continental Europe is scuttling B&Q owner Kingfisher in early trade, whilst financial stocks are looking generally depressed too in the wake of post-referendum pessimism being noted in the sector. The London Stock Exchange share price will also be one to watch in the days ahead with concern that the merger with Deutsche Bourse could see further regulatory issues having the potential to end up weighing.
Stocks managing to move higher are few and far between in early trade, with a broker upgrade providing some support to Informa, whilst Mediclinic is continuing to extend those gains from the latter part of last week. Carnival is due to report earnings later in the session, whilst the prospect of Opec managing to find some solution to oil oversupply later in the week will also keep energy stocks in focus in the near term.
The economic calendar is looking rather light today although loan data for UK house purchases may provide some fresh direction for the construction sector later this morning. The mood may be rather subdued today, but thanks to those encouraging noises we’ve heard from central banks over the last few weeks, London’s FTSE-100 is still ahead on the month.