FTSE 100 opens higher as US and China declare trade war on hold

The FTSE 100 started the week on a higher note, up 0.39% at 7,809.15, taking its cue from Asian stocks, which rallied after the Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the U.S. trade war with China was on hold.

The two countries have been negotiating the finer points of a trade deal in Washington for the better part of last week and have managed to reach an agreement by which China will increase its imports of American goods in order to rectify the large trade balance in its favour. The two sides also agreed to stop the tariff threats which have rocked the market over the past months. The dollar reacted by hitting a five-month high against major currencies. Sterling traded down at $1.3412 while the euro was quoted down at $1.1727.

In Asia, the Nikkei closed up 0.31%, the Hang Seng was up 0.84% and the Shanghai Composite finished the day up 0.64%.

AstraZeneca, currently embroiled in a shareholder rebellion over a large pay package for its chief executive, benefited this morning from news that the US FDS has approved the Lokelma drug for the treatment of hyperkalaemia. Its shares rose 1.87% to 5,338 on opening. The pharmaceutical firm also submitted a drug application to Japan's Pharmaceuticals & Medical Devices Agency for the use of Forxiga, an oral drug for type-1 diabetes, which is already under regulatory review in Europe.

Shares in budget airline Ryanair fell 3.1% after the company said that it was "on the pessimistic side of cautious" about its revenues for 2019. This comes as the company reported a 7.7% increase in revenues this year and a 10% rise in pretax profit due to lower fares and a 9% increase in passenger traffic dampened the effect of a large number of cancelled flights last September caused by staff shortages.

In the UK, house prices were up 0.8% month on month in May, up from a 0.4% rise in April, bringing the annual price increase to 1.1% in May, according to Rightmove. This is a slowdown from 1.6% in the previous month.

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