FTSE holds despite frosty trade relations

Unlike other European gauges which are mostly sliding this morning the FTSE is just about trading in positive territory, managing to hold its ground despite a weak close on Wall Street and heightened trade tensions between the US and China. A rise in oil prices is supporting natural resources companies and oil producers while airlines are providing a counterweight.
 
Dousing hopes that the latest frosting up in the US-China trade relations will be resolved swiftly Google suspended part of its business with Huawei this weekend after President Trump put the firm on a trade blacklist. 

Pound firms post Brexit talk breakdown

The pound firmed 31 pips against the dollar and 23 against the euro signalling that the market is not overly concerned by the breakdown in the Brexit talks between the Prime Minister and the Labour party, possibly hoping for a better outcome than the potential Brexit options that were put on the table by the two sides. 

Ryanair’s warning hits airlines

EasyJet, British Airways’ parent International Consolidated Airlines and TUI AG shares took a hit after Ryanair’s results reminded investors of the difficulties facing the airline industry, including high oil prices eroding the airlines’ margins. Brexit is also working its destructive magic on European airlines, already competing hard against one another in an overcrowded market.
It will be a bumper week for US IPOs with three biotech companies due to come onto the market on Wednesday. All three companies, Peloton Therapeutics, Ideaya Biosciences and Bicycle Therapeutics, deal with different stages of cancer treatment and prevention.