Source: Sharecast
The FTSE 100 was flat at 7,185.41, while the pound was up 0.1% against the dollar and the euro at 1.4100 and 1.1490, respectively.
Stocks had been in the black earlier, underpinned by what was regarded by many as a conciliatory tweet on Sunday by US President Donald Trump, which seemed to suggest that the US and China could strike some sort of deal on trade.
"President Xi and I will always be friends, no matter what happens with our dispute on trade. China will take down its trade barriers because it is the right thing to do. Taxes will become reciprocal & a deal will be made on intellectual property," Trump tweeted.
Market analyst Connor Campbell at Spreadex said Trump’s claim on Sunday that he will always be friends with President Xi, "however hilarious, has proved to be something of a salve for the markets".
The mood was also lifted by confirmation from North Korea that it was prepared to discuss denuclearising the Korean Peninsula with the US.
However, gains had evaporated by midday as stocks with exposure to Russia took a hit in London after Trump’s administration imposed sanctions on 24 Russian oligarchs and 12 companies to punish the country for actions in Crimea, Ukraine and Syria, and for attempting to subvert Western democracies.
Steel basher Evraz and precious metals miner Polymetal International, both of which have operations in Russia, tumbled, while Glencore, which owns a large stake in Russian aluminium producer Rusal, was also under the cosh.
Elsewhere, Rolls-Royce gained ground after agreeing to sell its wholly-owned subsidiary L’Orange, a parts maker, to US-based Woodward for an enterprise value of €700m (£610m).
WPP was lifted by news that it has taken steps to prepare for life after chief executive Sir Martin Sorrell and that investors are pushing for asset sales, after an investigation was launched last week into allegations made about the advertising giant's long-serving boss.
Wealth manager Rathbone Brothers was on the front foot after confirming market rumours that it was in takeover talks with Scottish stockbroker Speirs & Jeffrey Limited. Rathbone said no binding offer had been made and there can be "no certainty that any binding offer will be made nor that agreement will be reached with the Board and shareholders of Speirs & Jeffrey".
Peppa Pig rights owner Entertainment One was trading higher after announcing the acquisition of a 70% controlling stake in Whizz Kid Entertainment, a UK-based non-scripted television production company.
Centamin lost its shine after its preliminary production results for the first quarter, which showed gold output was unexpectedly down 19% on the quarter but up 14% on the year.
Royal Mail ticked a touch lower following reports that chief executive officer Moya Greene was set to step down, but Barclays edged up after Sky News suggested the bank’s chairman will make an exit next year.
Old Mutual was down even as it said that a legal claim against it by US insurer Travelers has been dropped.
In broker note action, BHP Billiton was upgraded to ‘buy’ at Societe Generale but Anglo American was cut to ‘hold’.
Elsewhere, Renishaw was lifted to ‘hold’ at Peel Hunt, while IMI was upgraded to ‘add’. GVC Holdings was initiated at ‘hold’ by HSBC.
On the data front, the latest survey from mortgage lender Halifax revealed that UK house prices rose more than expected in March.
House prices were up 2.7% in the three months to March compared to the same period a year ago. This was up from a 1.8% increase the month before and ahead of analysts’ expectations for a 2.1% gain.
Prices were up 1.5% from February following a 0.5% rise the month before, comfortably beating expectations for a 0.2% increase. Halifax cautioned that monthly changes can be volatile.
The average house price was £227,871, a new high, with mortgages in the UK at their most affordable in a decade.
Samuel Tombs, chief UK economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said the jump in Halifax’s measure of house prices in March just looks like volatility, rather than the start of a strong upward trend.
"Halifax’s index is prone to large swings; the standard deviation of month-to-month growth since 2010 has been twice as high as for Nationwide’s measure. Halifax’s index fell by 0.8% and 0.5% in December and January, respectively, before rising by 0.5% in February. As a result, the average level of prices in Q1 was still 0.1% below its Q4 level, despite the surge in March. Meanwhile, Nationwide’s and Rightmove’s indices were up just 2.0% and 2.1% year-over-year in March, respectively, while the average mortgage approval was a mere 1.1% larger year-over-year in February.
"With mortgage rates now on a rising path, given that wholesale funding costs have increased since the start of the year and the Term Funding Scheme no longer is subsidising new lending, house prices will struggle to increase over the coming months."
The main focus this week will be the release of US inflation figures and the latest FOMC minutes on Wednesday. A speech by China's President Xi Jinping on Tuesday at an economic conference with the International Monetary Fund is likely to be one of the most important events of the week for stock markets as it could "aid or inflame" trade tensions between the People's Republic and the US, said analyst Craig Erlam at Oanda.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,185.41 0.02%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,495.79 -0.18%
techMARK (TASX) 3,327.95 0.38%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 882.40p 1.66%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 624.40p 1.43%
ITV (ITV) 149.90p 1.22%
Associated British Foods (ABF) 2,525.00p 1.20%
Bunzl (BNZL) 2,115.00p 1.20%
WPP (WPP) 1,175.50p 1.12%
Whitbread (WTB) 3,728.00p 1.11%
Halma (HLMA) 1,176.00p 1.03%
Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,330.00p 0.99%
Pearson (PSON) 748.00p 0.94%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Evraz (EVR) 386.40p -14.23%
Glencore (GLEN) 340.14p -3.13%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,587.60p -1.90%
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,221.50p -1.65%
BP (BP.) 490.30p -1.63%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 901.00p -1.59%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 5,584.00p -1.31%
Royal Mail (RMG) 549.60p -1.26%
RSA Insurance Group (RSA) 646.80p -0.86%
Old Mutual (OML) 233.30p -0.85%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Games Workshop Group (GAW) 2,320.00p 2.65%
Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 1,278.00p 2.57%
BTG (BTG) 623.00p 2.55%
Spire Healthcare Group (SPI) 216.40p 2.37%
Telecom Plus (TEP) 1,221.62p 1.80%
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 347.50p 1.76%
Stobart Group Ltd. (STOB) 235.00p 1.73%
Schroder Asia Pacific Fund (SDP) 445.25p 1.66%
Computacenter (CCC) 1,190.00p 1.54%
Greencore Group (GNC) 137.15p 1.52%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Polymetal International (POLY) 656.40p -9.34%
TalkTalk Telecom Group (TALK) 117.70p -4.46%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 189.10p -3.89%
FirstGroup (FGP) 90.40p -3.73%
Sophos Group (SOPH) 462.20p -3.26%
Sanne Group (SNN) 635.00p -3.05%
IP Group (IPO) 121.80p -2.56%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 148.51p -2.55%
Card Factory (CARD) 189.40p -2.47%
Capita (CPI) 134.75p -2.36%