The FTSE 100 opened Tuesday’s session modestly higher amid hopes the global economy is slowly pulling out of the mire as coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdown restrictions are eased.

The index of UK blue-chip shares rose 26 points early on to ​​​​​6,192.87.

UK blue-chips followed the lead set by Wall Street overnight, which nudged into positive territory.

Asia too was higher today, though US futures currently point to a down day there as unrest over the George Floyd murder looks set to be met with a strong response with President Trump ready to deploy the army.

May’s Nationwide House Price Index reading, the first since lockdown in March, asked more questions than it answered.

However, Howard Archer, chief economist of the influential EY Item Club, made this forecast: “[We] suspect house prices could fall back 5% over the next few months. Despite the easing of restrictions on the housing market, we suspect that the upside to activity may be limited for some to come.”

Housebuilders Barratt Developments (LON:BDEV) and Taylor Wimpey (LON:TW.) rose 1.5% and 1% respectively, while Persimmon (LON:PSN) was flat.

Rolls Royce (LON:RR.), up 4%, topped the risers with the shares recovering further from the markdown that followed the downgrade of the aero-engine maker’s debt to junk status.

Cruise giant Carnival (LON:CCL) also found a few fans in the City as it sailed 3% higher. On the FTSE 250, travel giant TUI (LON:TUI) was up 9%.

Proactive news headlines:

Gaming Realms PLC (LON:GMR) has highlighted “high levels” of growth in its licensing revenues across April and May. In a trading update, the AIM-listed firm said licensing revenue was up 80% over the five months to May 31, 2020, while revenues from its social division were 15% higher. Gaming Realms said the stronger performance had been underpinned by continued growth in new licensing partners such as new deals with 888casino.com, Sky Betting & Gaming in the UK and Draft Kings in the US state of New Jersey.

Inspired Energy plc (LON:INSE) said its board has been encouraged by the performance of the business, which remains cash generative, during the coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdown period as it posted its full-year 2019 results. The consultant for energy procurement, utility cost optimisation and legislative compliance in the UK and Ireland believes it is well-positioned to respond effectively as activity levels continue to recover. The company said its corporate order book, which rose 9% to £57.5mln during 2019, had further increased to £60.1mln by the end of April.

Braveheart Investment Group PLC (LON:BRH) said things are starting to roll in the collaboration between Kirkstall, its investee company, and Animal Free Research UK. The non-animal medical research charity has awarded the first three projects that will use Kirkstall’s Quasi Vivo system in research related to the coronavirus (COVID-19). Imperial College London will be modelling early immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 in a fluidic system; the Centre for Sport, Exercise and Life Sciences at Coventry University will investigate obesity, diabetes and COVID-19; and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health will look into the susceptibility of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and cigarette smoke airway epithelia to SARS-CoV-2.

Amur Minerals Corporation (LON:AMC) has said it is to hold an extraordinary general meeting on June 19, with the main item on the agenda a resolution to increase the amount of shares the company is allowed to issue. “The directors remain cognisant at all times of potential mergers, acquisitions or investments which would benefit the company’s business,” Amur said in its official notice to the market. “Such potential transactions include acquiring interests in revenue-generating assets or financial instruments within the mining sector to provide the company with a reliable source of income going forward, or where the company will be able to add short to medium-term value.”  The proposal is that the company be allowed to increase the amount of shares it can issue from 1bn to 2bn.

Zoetic International PLC (LON:ZOE) said it has raised £350,000 by selling stock to an existing individual shareholder. Private investor John Story has increased his stake in the CBD specialist to 5.06% by acquiring 8.75mln share at 4p each. The proceeds will be used to fund the new US distribution contracts for its Chill range of cannabidiol products.

Circassia Group PLC (LON:CIR) said it has been provided access to a £5mln equity finance facility by the North Atlantic Small Companies Investment Trust (NASCIT) and noted stock market investor, Richard Griffiths. The facility will be available until November 30, and the new stock will be issued at “the lower of 24.6p and the price at which Circassia may issue any other new ordinary shares”. NASCIT will subscribe to 70% of the shares, Griffiths the remainder. Chairman Ian Johnson said he was “grateful” of the support from the company’s two key investors.

Iconic Labs PLC (LON:ICON), a multi-divisional new media and technology business, announced that it has received a notice of exercise from European High Growth Opportunities Securitization Fund in respect of the exercise of its conversion rights under its Convertible Bonds in respect of the first tranche drawn down under the Financing and Settlement Agreement for the aggregate principal amount of £50,000 resulting in the issue to the investor of 500,000,000 new ordinary shares.

Condor Gold PLC (LON:CNR) (TSX:COG) has announced that following an exercise of warrants with an exercise price of 25p per warrant, it is issuing 817,927 new ordinary shares with a nominal value of 20p each in the capital of the company and has received gross proceeds of £204,482.

Tiziana Life Sciences PLC (LON:TILS) (NASDAQ:TLSA), a US and UK biotechnology company that focuses on the discovery and development of novel molecules to treat human disease in oncology and immunology announced that it has allotted and issued 1,498,685 ordinary shares in respect of the exercise of 1,498,685 warrants at a price of 39p and 50p per share, yielding £710,843 in cash proceeds for the company.

SIMEC Atlantis Energy PLC (LON:SAE) has announced the appointment of Investec Bank as its nominated adviser and sole broker, effective immediately.

Directa Plus PLC (LON:DCTA) has said that its annual general meeting (AGM) will be held on Friday, June 26, 2020, at 12.00pm (CEST) at ComoNExT – Science and Technology Park, Via Cavour 2, 22074 Lomazzo (Co), Italy. It noted that due to various governmental coronavirus (COVID-19) guidelines, no shareholders will be able to attend.

ImmuPharma PLC (LON:IMM), the specialist drug discovery and development company has announced that its Annual General Meeting (AGM) confirmed for Thursday, June 18, 2020, at 10.30am, will now be held at: 52 Grosvenor Garden, London SW1W 0AU. The group said the coronavirus (COVID-19) guidance rules still apply, as set out in the announcement issued on May 21, ad any shareholders attempting to gain access to the AGM will be excluded from the meeting on the ground of public safety.

KRM22 PLC (LON:KRM) the technology and software investment company that focuses on risk management for capital markets has said its annual general meeting (AGM) will be held at the offices of Fieldfisher LLP at Riverbank House, 2 Swan Lane, London EC4R 3TT on June 25, 2020, at 10.00am. In light of the government’s ongoing response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, banning all non-essential travel and gatherings of more than two people, the company requests all shareholders to submit their Form of Proxy or use the CREST Proxy Voting Service and not to attend the meeting in person.

Westminster Group PLC (LON:WSG), a leading supplier of managed services and technology-based security solutions worldwide has confirmed that its AGM will be held at the company’s offices Westminster House, Blacklocks Hill, Banbury Lane, Banbury, Oxon OX17 2BS on June 25, 2020, at 11.00am. It said votes may be submitted prior to the AGM by mail using the Form of Proxy or in the case of CREST members, by utilising the CREST electronic proxy appointment service. In order to comply with the UK government’s coronavirus (COVID-19) measures, the AGM is being convened as a “Closed Meeting” with a quorum of two and other shareholders will not be permitted entry on the grounds of safety. In addition, the company said it also intends to hold an investor webinar on July 23, 2020, to present an update on its activities and trading. Details will be made available on the company’s website nearer the date of the AGM.

Touchstone Exploration Inc. (LON:TXP) (TSX:TXP), an oil and gas exploration and production company active in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, said it will be holding a live online interview and Q&A session with the company’s senior management team on Thursday, June 4, 2020, at 7.00pm BST. To join the event: https://vtm.clickmeeting.com/txp; room ID: 229-863-978. Or to listen by telephone, call +44 (20) 7048-4146 and provide the Participant PIN: 262163878 followed by the # key. The webcast will be recorded and made available on ValueTheMarkets.com – http://www.valuethemarkets.com/  – after the event.

Quadrise PLC (LON:QFI) has announced that its chairman, Mike Kirk, and its CEO, Jason Miles will provide a live presentation at the Proactive Investor webinar on Thursday, June 4, 2020, from 6.00pm. Investors can register to attend via the link: https://bit.ly/2TENuZq. It said no new material information will be disclosed at the presentation and a copy of the company’s updated presentation being provided will be available on the company’s website on the evening of June 4.

Tiziana Life Sciences PLC (LON:TILS, NASDAQ:TLSA) said it has issued 1.499mln shares in respect to warrants exercised at 39p and 50p that brought in cash proceeds of £710,843. During May, the company issued a total of 1.743mln shares under its ATM sales agreement to meet sales of a total of 348,689 American depositary shares (ADS), bringing in gross proceeds of £1.6mln (US$1.985mln).

7.15am: Annual house price growth slows in May

The Nationwide’s index of house prices fell in May, sliding 1.7% to a reading of 435.5 from 442.8 in April.

The average price of a house sold in May was £218,902, down from £222,915 in the previous month.

“UK house prices fell by 1.7% over the month in May, after taking account of seasonal effects – this is the largest monthly fall since February 2009. As a result, the annual rate of house price growth slowed to 1.8%, from 3.7% in April,” reported Robert Gardner, the mortgage lender’s chief economist.

Gardner revealed that around 15% of people surveyed were considering moving house as a result of “life in lockdown”, with 34% stating they “think differently about their home as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak, especially the importance of a garden and the need for more indoor space”.

Shareholders in DIY products seller Kingfisher PLC (LON:KGF) will be pleased to learn that 22% of people surveyed said they had changed their mind over what constituted the most important aspects of a home and are considering improving their home as a result of COVID-19.

Spread betting quotes are suggesting the FTSE 100 index will open at around 6,186.

6.45am: Blue-chips to continue regaining lost ground

The FTSE 100 is expected to continue to regain lost ground on Tuesday as economic data show many countries around the world continuing to creep back towards normal in the wake of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

London’s blue chips are tipped to start 33 points higher according to the IG spread-betting platform, adding to the near-90 point gain to finish at 6,166 a day earlier.

Wall Street stock indices finished modestly higher overnight despite a continued tension in the country as the President called for a military presence in the streets to quell Black Lives Matter protests after the police killing of George Floyd.

Overnight on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrials Average share index added almost 92 points or 0.4% to 25,475, while the broader S&P 500 rose 0.4% and the tech-led Nasdaq Composite added 0.7%.

Asian markets were in the green on Tuesday morning, led by the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo, up 1.5%, while the Hang Song in Hong Kong added 0.6% and the Shanghai Composite was just on the right side of flat.

Tuesday’s agenda brings the fourth round of Brexit negotiations, which are taking place over video conference, as well as house price data from Nationwide and lending data from the Bank of England.

On Tuesday’s corporate agenda there is a continuation of the stream of mid-cap company updates and some macroeconomic data that will be of interest to investors in various industries.

Among the company news should be final results from Electrocomponents PLC (LON:ECM), with the market last hearing from the industrial distributor on March 23.

At that point, the FTSE 250 group confirmed a significant drop in sales volumes to customers into locked-down markets such as Italy and France.

With Electro reporting a strong cash position and saying it had been able to leverage its global supply chain and strong online offering to mitigate the worst impact, using its UK hub to meet global demand, analysts at Peel Hunt said they “don’t see a reason for these mini-trends to have changed materially”.

Around the markets:

• Pound – up 0.1% at US$1.2494
• Oil – Brent up 0.8% at US$38.61
• Gold – down 0.1% at US$1,748.60

Significant announcements expected on Tuesday:

Finals: Electrocomponents PLC (LON:ECM), Mediclinic International Plc (LON:MDC), Card Factory PLC (LON:CARD), Vianet Group PLC (LON:VNET), Inspired Energy plc (LON:INSE)

AGMs: Aviva PLC (LON:AV.), Saga PLC (LON:SAGA)

City headlines:

FT

• Trump vows to deploy US military to quell protests – President says he will ‘dominate the streets’ following unrest over killing of George Floyd
• Mining remains a bright spot in M&A gloom – most large mines are operating without interruption as China continues to suck in their products
• Investor plans £15bn support for UK companies toiling with crisis loans – Business Growth Fund proposes state-backed scheme to aid indebted companies emerging from pandemic

The Times

• We’ll compromise if you do too, Britain tells EU – compromise to be offered on fisheries and “level playing field” trade rules if the European Union backs off from its “maximalist” demands on regulatory alignment and fishing access.
• Senior Facebook employees are openly criticising Mark Zuckerberg’s refusal to take action over posts by President Trump that rival social media sites have censured for “glorifying violence”.
• Investors, brokers and market-makers have given broad backing to proposals to cut the stock market trading day by ninety minutes to only seven hours.

Telegraph

• Watchdog prepares legal action against insurers over Covid payouts – some insurers decided to pay out on claims as the threat of legal action loomed
• Dealers are open again – but who wants to buy a car? The motoring industry is getting back into gear with socially distant selling, but questions remain over consumer demand
• Monsoon tells landlords to waive rents or face closures – founder Peter Simon has been trying to offload the company for the past two months

Guardian

• The ongoing coronavirus pandemic will haunt the US economy for a decade, wiping close to $8tn off economic growth, according to new projections released by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).
• The Ted Baker founder, Ray Kelvin, has slashed his stake in the fashion retailer by more than half, handing control of the company to an investor known as “the Rottweiler” as part of an emergency £105m fundraising to get the business through the coronavirus pandemic.
• Shoppers rushed back to high streets and retail parks on Monday as the reopening of car showrooms, markets and some Ikea stores marked the easing of lockdown restrictions in England.

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