What happened yesterday?
London equities ended a lacklustre Monday below the waterline as the FTSE 100 ended the session 0.05% weaker at 7,100.40 and the FTSE 25o was down 0.24% at 23,539.92.
Elsewhere, sterling gained ground, clawing back some of its hefty losses after the Bank of England’s shocking decision last week to keep interest rates on hold. The pound was last up 0.48% against the dollar at $1.3563 and it rose 0.3% against the euro to €1.1701.
Wall Street stocks closed out the session higher on Monday after approval of Joe Biden’s infrastructure spending package in congress led to gains across the sector.
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.29% firmer at 36,432.22, while the S&P 500 was up 0.09% at 4,701.70. The Nasdaq Composite gained o.o9% to end at 15,982.36.
In company news
SoftBank unveiled a 12-month $8.8bn share buyback programme, as the company yielded to investor pressure after its Vision Fund unit disclosed a record quarterly loss of $7.3bn.
Cyber security firm McAfee was acquired by a six-entity investor group in a £10 billion deal that will delist the company and take it private. The consortium is said to be led by US private equity firm Advent International. The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2022.
An industry consortium led by UK aero-engine maker Rolls-Royce, and private oil company Perenco will jointly pump £405m into the development of a fleet of mini-reactors as part of a new push into nuclear power designed to help the UK government meet its net zero carbon targets.