FTSE closes higher, helped by AstraZeneca, Taylor Wimpey
By Atul Prakash
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's top share index ended higher on Monday, helped by a rally in AstraZeneca after a delay in the approval for a rival drug and strong gains by builder Taylor Wimpey on a brighter earnings outlook.
However, travel and leisure stocks slumped after Friday's suicide bombings and shootings in Paris that killed more than 120 people.
Shares in AstraZeneca rose 4 percent after Clovis Oncology said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had asked for more data on its lung cancer drug, which could delay its approval. A similar drug from AstraZeneca got early U.S. approval last week.
Taylor Wimpey rose 4.1 percent after saying it had seen an excellent summer selling season and the trend could strengthen further in the autumn period.
The FTSE 100 index ended 0.5 percent stronger at 6,146.38 points after opening lower. Energy shares were up 0.8 percent, with some investors speculating that heightened political and security tensions following the Paris attacks would help oil prices.
"I don’t want to say that we have got used to these things, but the markets have learnt to realise that the attacks tend to have very limited impact upon the economy and markets," Commerzbank economist Peter Dixon said.
"Sectors like travel and leisure are going to take a hit as people re-plan their travel needs, but it’s an out-of-the-season period and not happening at the top of the peak season. It may not have as much of an impact on earnings as you anticipate."
The FTSE 350 travel and leisure index was down 1.2 percent, the worst-performing sector.
Tourism company TUI fell 4.1 percent and cruise operator Carnival retreated 2.5 percent. Hotelier Intercontinental Hotels was down 1.9 percent and International Consolidated Airlines fell 2.8 percent.
The FTSE 100 index is down 6 percent so far this year, underperforming the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index and the euro zone's blue-chip Euro STOXX 50 index, both up about 7 percent in 2015.
"We are still cautious on the UK in a relative sense as the earnings story here isn’t as strong as in the rest of Europe, where the underlying economy seems to have got more momentum behind it and the currency boost is a lot more significant than in the United Kingdom," said Robert Parkes, equity strategist at HSBC.
(Additional reporting by Kit Rees, editing by Larry King)
