LONDON: UK shares edged down on Monday in line with their European counterparts, with smaller rivals of Carillion rising after the British construction and services company was forced into liquidation.
At 0930 GMT, the FTSE 100 was down 0.1 percent with Carillion shares suspended from trading.
“People will pick up business and for some it will be good,” an analyst at a UK broker said about Carillion’s downfall and cited healthcare group Serco, which rose 4.6 percent.
Among other former rivals, G4S rose 1.7 percent,, Interserve gained 1.9 percent, Balfour Beatty rose 0.8 percent and Kier Group advanced 0.9 percent.
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UBS analysts said that Carillion’s collapse might ease competition in the sector, but it may not be a game-changer.
“We think the impact will likely be small given the fragmented nature of the market”, they said.
GKN, trying to fend off an offer of 405 pence per share from turnaround specialist Melrose, led the blue-chip index with a 3 percent rise. City AM reported that US buyout house Carlyle was planning a bid of its own.
Melrose (down 0.2 percent) said it plans to meet GKN shareholders to convince them of the benefits of its 7 billion- pound offer, which GKN management had rejected.
Johnson Matthey shares were one of the biggest risers, up 2.1 percent after broker Berenberg raised its target price for the shares.
Acacia Mining rose 2.7 percent after it reported gold production in the last quarter of 2017 exceeded expectations.
Gold prices on Monday rose to their highest since September, buoyed by a weaker US dollar, which slumped to three-year lows against a basket of currencies.
British bookmaker William Hill rose 0.5 percent after saying its adjusted operating profit for 2017 would rise 11 percent year-on-year, beating analyst expectations, thanks to strong trading in recent weeks and favourable sporting results.
BP and Royal Dutch Shell retreated 0.3 percent as oil prices held just below December 2014 highs .
Financials also weighed on the index with Standard Chartered losing 1.2 percent and HSBC 0.6 percent.
Source: Brecorder.com
