London markets flat as investors read G-20 tea leaves London Markets

By Dave Morris

AFP/Getty Images

London markets were flat as investors considered their positioning ahead of the G-20 summit Friday.

How did markets perform?

The U.K.’s FTSE 100 /zigman2/quotes/210598409/delayed UK:UKX -0.36% was flat at 7,405.3, after ticking 0.2% lower Friday.

The pound /zigman2/quotes/210561263/realtime/sampled GBPUSD +0.7316% moved up 0.2% to $1.2750. It closed flat on Friday.

What’s moving the markets?

World leaders were preparing to visit Osaka, Japan on Friday for the G-20 summit as U.S. President Donald Trump’s announced fresh sanctions on Iran, who he said will face major new measures starting Monday. Trump’s tweet said he looked forward to the day when the sanctions over the Middle Eastern nation’s nuclear program could be removed. Separately, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the U.S. is ready to negotiate without preconditions.

The Financial Times reported that the European Commission will refrain from triggering measures to sanction Italy over its debt levels, which the Commission has said are currently in breach of European Union budget rules. Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte is working to find savings to keep the eurozone country’s spending within proscribed limits.

In economic data, Germany’s Ifo business climate survey came in at 97.4 versus a consensus figure of 97.5. The number was the weakest seen since November 2014, however the Ifo economists said they did not see the German economy slipping into recession.

Which stocks are active?

BT Group PLC /zigman2/quotes/209006687/delayed UK:BT.A -1.17% shares dropped 2% following a downgrade from hold to sell by Deutsche Bank analysts. The analysts said BT was the “least attractive” of European telecom companies.

Admiral Group PLC /zigman2/quotes/201079056/delayed UK:ADM -1.55% shares moved up 3.2% thanks to a “double-upgrade” to overweight from underweight by Barclays Capital. The analysts wrote that the market had not yet registered a shift in insurance prices that would benefit the group.

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