British defense giant BAE Systems was one of the biggest risers on the FTSE 100 yesterday as the industry was boosted by geopolitical tensions.
On a quiet day for the London market, BAE’s share price rose 0.6 per cent, or 6.5p, to 1,102p after a report revealed its order book had increased by around £ 7 billion in one year.
Rising global hostilities and ongoing conflicts have increased defense spending.
Order books at the world’s biggest defense companies have reached near record levels and MSCI’s global benchmark for industry shares is up 25 percent in the past 12 months.
The war in Ukraine partly explains the increase, but companies such as BAE Systems have also been boosted by new orders for existing contracts.
Boosted: On a quiet day for the London market, BAE’s share price rose 1.1% after a report revealed its order book had increased by around £7bn in a year.
The report revealed that BAE’s order book increased from £48.5 billion to £55.5 billion in 2022. And orders hit a record £66 billion in the first half of this year.
Meanwhile, mining stocks also rose after copper prices rose 1.36 per cent to 8,690.5p yesterday.
Anglo American’s share price rose 0.5 per cent, or 9 pence, to 1,984.8 pence, while Antofagasta fell 0.2 per cent, or 3 pence, to 1,707.5 pence.
Glencore’s share price fell 0.4 per cent, or 1.7 pence, to 470.1 pence. Rio Tinto shares rose 0.6 per cent, or 35 pence, to 5,860 pence.
Other risers included AstraZeneca, which continued to gain thanks to a £950m deal to buy Shanghai pharmaceutical company Gracell Biotechnology, which was announced on Boxing Day.
The drugmaker’s share price jumped 0.4 per cent, or 46 pence, to 10,574 pence, and rival pharmaceutical giant GSK also rose 0.8 per cent, or 11.6 pence, to 1,461.2 pence. .
The FTSE 100 index of blue-chip shares fell 0.03 per cent, or 2.2 points, to 7,722.74 pence, while the FTSE 250 mid-cap index fell 0.01 per cent, or 1.6 points, to 19,719.16.
Stock Watch – Zanaga Iron Ore
Zanaga Iron Ore shares rose after the company revealed a deal to boost its project in the Republic of Congo.
The agreement has been signed with China Machinery Engineering Corporation (CMEC).
CMEC will complete inspections at the sites near Zanaga and draft proposals on how the hydroelectric dams will be financed.
Iron ore prices have been gaining strength in recent weeks as confidence grows over the outlook for China’s steel demand.
The shares rose 17.3 per cent, or between 1.5p and 10.3p.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones rose 0.2 percent, while the S&P 500 also rose 0.2 percent and the Nasdaq gained 0.3 percent.
Meanwhile, the pound was trading at $1.276 against the dollar.
Oil prices fell about 1 percent after falling nearly 2 percent the previous day as major shipping companies began returning to the Red Sea.
Danish company Maersk said it has container ships scheduled to travel through the Suez Canal and the Red Sea.
It had called for a temporary suspension this month following attacks by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi militia.
The decision to restore the route has “helped allay some immediate concerns about supply issues”, said Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown.
Shell’s share price fell 0.3 per cent, or 7p, to 2,549p. BP shares fell 0.4 percent, or 2 pence, to 465 pence on lower oil prices.
“The market is likely to try to rally again…perhaps early in the new year, amid expectations of a recovery in fuel demand thanks to monetary easing in the United States,” said Hiroyuki Kikukawa of NS Trading. a Nissan unit. Values.
Shares in UK housebuilders fell on fears the Bank of England will be slow to cut interest rates in 2024.
A cautious approach would keep mortgage costs higher for longer.
Barratt Developments’ share price fell 0.7 per cent, or 4p, to 562.4p, Land Securities shares fell 1 per cent, or 7.2p, to 716.4p and Berkeley fell 0.4 per cent, or 20 pence, to 4,737 pence.
Streeter said: ‘Housebuilders are on the defensive amid signs that consumers are still showing signs of resilience in their spending patterns in the post-Christmas sales.
“The Bank of England is showing more caution than the Federal Reserve about the path of inflation, so any sign that interest rates could stay high for longer in the UK is not good for the housing market.”
On London’s AIM market, chipmaker Sondrel fell the most. The shares plunged 53.7 per cent after a £1.7m contract delay caused cash flow problems.
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