With Wall Street hitting yet new highs, leading UK shares are also on the rise, albeit tentatively.
The FTSE 100 is currently up 2.30 points at 7046.26, off its best levels after slightly disappointing public finance figures. European shares are mixed as concerns about the refinancing of troubled Italian bank Monte dei Paschi continue, with the bank saying it could run out of cash in four months.
Capita is the leading faller after yet another downgrade. In the wake of Jefferies and Credit Suisse reducing their target price, Goldman Sachs has moved from 771p to 595p with a neutral rating. Capita is down 7.4p or 1.5% at 491.2p.
Earlier in December it issued its second profit warning in three months.
Carnival is also lower, down 53p at £40.92 after the cruise ship operator said higher fuel costs and exchange rates would hit its results in 2017, although it did report better than expected fourth quarter figures.
Among the risers, Rolls-Royce is up 1.9% at 689p while precious metal miners benefited from a slight increase in the gold price. Fresnillo is up 9p at £11 and Randgold Resources is 40p higher at £56.75.
Lower down the market, technology group QinetiQ has climbed 11.6p to 260.2p after it said it was paying £57.5m to buy Meggitt Target Systems from Meggitt. AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould said:
The deal enhances QinetiQ’s ability to deliver world-class test and evaluation services and will drive growth in the group’s core capabilities in international markets, Meggitt is a leading international provider of unmanned aerial, naval and land-based target systems and services for test and evaluation and operational training and rehearsal.
Aim-listed medical devices group Aortech has slumped after it unveiled a fall in half year operating profits from $193,000 to $310,000 and said it was spending “considerable time and effort” on litigation against a former chief executive, and last week attempts to reach a settlement after more than two and a half years were unsuccessful, leading to the prospect of going to trial.
