LONDON: European and Asian stock markets mostly rose Tuesday, with London reaching a new high early into its first session of 2017.
London’s FTSE 100 reached a historic peak at 7,205.21 points in morning deals, extending a record run seen in the final week of 2016.
The Paris CAC 40 meanwhile struck a 13-month high above 4,900 points.
“2017 has kicked off in fine style for the FTSE 100, which broke to a new record high at the open,” said Joshua Mahony, market analyst at IG trading group.
The FTSE remained in positive territory approaching midday as a survey showed UK manufacturing reaching a 30-month high in December.
The Markit/CIPS manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) climbed to 56.1 in December after easing to 53.6 in November.
It “provides further evidence that the sector’s post-referendum weakness will prove short-lived,” said Capital Economics analyst Ruth Gregory.
Since Britain’s vote in favor of Brexit, London’s FTSE 100 blue-chip index has soared thanks in large part to a weaker pound, even as the economy shrugs off the impact of the country’s impending divorce from the European Union.
Elsewhere Tuesday, most Asian markets were higher on their first trading day of the year.
Chinese stocks finished solidly higher after an independent research firm showed manufacturing activity expanded in December at its quickest pace in nearly four years, a sign of improving health for the world’s second-largest economy.
Markets in Japan were closed for the final day of an extended New Year holiday.
On currency markets, the dollar advanced and was projected to continue its climb over the longer term, on expectations of more US interest rate rises this year and Donald Trump’s inauguration as US president.
“The US dollar should remain strong in 2017. Growth and inflation in the US will be the strongest among the G3 economies (US, Japan and the EU),” Singapore’s DBS Bank said in a note.
“We expect the Fed to hike four times this year whilst the eurozone and Japan maintain their quantitative easing (stimulus) policies,” it added.
Also Tuesday, oil prices struck fresh 18-month highs as an agreement by major producers to cut output took effect.
OPEC members led by Saudi Arabia and non-OPEC producers like Russia agreed late last year to slash output to try and shore up prices weighed down by an oversupply since mid-2014.
On the corporate front, the London Stock Exchange said Tuesday it has agreed to offload the French arm of clearing house LCH to European rival Euronext as it seeks a merger with Deutsche Boerse.
LSE Group said a cash deal worth 510 million euros ($534 million) had been struck with Euronext, adding in a statement that the proposed sale “would be subject to review and approval by the European Commission in connection with the recommended merger of LSEG and Deutsche Boerse.”
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London — FTSE 100: UP 0.3 percent at 7,165.78 points
Frankfurt — DAX 30: FLAT at 11,599.50
Paris — CAC 40: UP 0.4 percent at 4,903.59
EURO STOXX 50: UP 0.1 percent at 3,313.21
Hong Kong — Hang Seng: UP 0.6 percent at 22,126 (close)
Shanghai — Composite: UP 1.0 percent at 3,135.92 (close)
Tokyo — Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.2 percent at 19,114.37 (Friday’s close)
New York — Dow: DOWN 0.3 percent at 19,762.0 (Friday’s close)
Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.0426 from $1.0487
Dollar/yen: UP at 118.09 yen from 117.43 yen
Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2264 from $1.2326
Oil — West Texas Intermediate: UP $1.15 at $54.87 per barrel
Oil — Brent North Sea: UP $1.22 at $58.04 per barrel
London stock market kicks off 2017 with record high
London stock market kicks off 2017 with record high
Lebanese social entrepreneur Omar Itani recognized by Schwab Foundation
- FabricAID co-founder among 21 global recipients recognized for social innovation
DAVOS: Lebanon’s Omar Itani is one of 21 recipients of the Social Entrepreneurs and Innovators of the Year Award by the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship.
Itani is the co-founder of social enterprise FabricAID, which aims to “eradicate symptoms of poverty” by collecting and sanitizing secondhand clothing before placing items in stores in “extremely marginalized areas,” he told Arab News on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
With prices ranging from $0.25 to $4, the goal is for people to have a “dignified shopping experience” at affordable prices, he added.
FabricAID operates a network of clothing collection bins across key locations in Lebanon and Jordan, allowing people to donate pre-loved items. The garments are cleaned and sorted before being sold through the organization’s stores, while items that cannot be resold due to damage or heavy wear are repurposed for other uses, including corporate merchandise.
Since its launch, FabricAID has sold more than 1 million items, reached 200,000 beneficiaries and is preparing to expand into the Egyptian market.
Amid uncertainty in the Middle East, Itani advised young entrepreneurs to reframe challenges as opportunities.
“In Lebanon and the Arab world, we complain a lot,” he said. Understandably so, as “there are a lot of issues” in the region, resulting in people feeling frustrated and wanting to move away. But, he added, “a good portion of the challenges” facing the Middle East are “great economic and commercial opportunities.”
Over the past year, social innovators raised a combined $970 million in funding and secured a further $89 million in non-cash contributions, according to the Schwab Foundation’s recent report, “Built to Last: Social Innovation in Transition.”
This is particularly significant in an environment of geopolitical uncertainty and at a time when 82 percent report being affected by shrinking resources, triggering delays in program rollout (70 percent) and disruptions to scaling plans (72 percent).
Francois Bonnici, director of the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship and a member of the World Economic Forum’s Executive Committee, said: “The next decade must move the models of social innovation decisively from the margins to the mainstream, transforming not only markets but mindsets.”
Award recipients take part in a structured three-year engagement with the Schwab Foundation, after which they join its global network as lifelong members. The program connects social entrepreneurs with international peers, collaborative initiatives, and capacity-building support aimed at strengthening and scaling their work.
