London open: Stocks rise after US gains, ahead of PMIs
(Sharecast News) - London stocks rose on Wednesday, taking their cue from technology-led gains on Wall Street as investors eyed the latest readings on the UK manufacturing and services sectors.
At 0855 BST, the FTSE 100 was up 0.8% at 5,876.83, helped along by a weaker pound, which traded down 0.3% against the dollar at 1.2697.
Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor, said: "Markets have generally stemmed the declines of recent trading sessions, although any relief could be short-lived given overarching concerns which have not gone away.
"The potential for Covid-19 to wreak further economic damage was brought into sharp focus as the UK announced further restrictive measures. In the US, deteriorating relations with China and political distractions add to an economy which is still being hampered by the effects of the virus.
"In the UK, attempts to foil a second wave of the pandemic piles additional pressure on several already beleaguered sectors which had shown some signs of a tentative recovery. Hospitality, leisure, tourism and the banks will all come under the spotlight once more as the moves by the UK government threaten to choke recovery prospects. The additional concerns of a spike in unemployment after the end of the furlough scheme, as well as increasingly fraught discussions between the UK and the EU beg the question of whether more stimulus is required, or even possible."
On the data front, Markit's manufacturing and services PMIs for September are due at 0930 BST.
In corporate news, 3i Group was the top performer after saying results at its Action discount retail business beat expectations in the past three months as the private equity investor reported mixed trading at its other portfolio businesses.
British Airways and Iberia parent IAG was among the risers after two days of heavy losses on worries over the impact of further Covid-19 restrictions.
JD Sports Fashion also advanced following well-received first-quarter results from Nike.
Diploma surged after raising around £190m in a placing to help fund the £357m acquisition of US-based wire and cable distributor Windy City Wire Cable and Technology Products, and following an upgrade to 'overweight' at JPMorgan. The bank said Diploma was buying a good business at a reasonable price.
Upper Crust and Caffe Ritazza owner SSP Group rallied despite warning of "considerable" job losses and saying it expects second-half sales to plummet by 86% amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Hazard detection company Halma was also in the black despite saying it expects 2021 adjusted pre-tax profits to be up to 10% lower and more weighted to the second half.
On the downside, PZ Cussons fell as it said it had a good start to the current financial year but that it expected tougher trading with the UK and other markets in recession.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 5,876.83 0.81%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 16,978.53 0.93%
techMARK (TASX) 3,748.70 0.87%
FTSE 100 - Risers
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 782.20p 2.52%
Smiths Group (SMIN) 1,443.50p 2.12%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,568.50p 2.12%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 112.70p 1.85%
Smurfit Kappa Group (SKG) 2,950.00p 1.79%
Schroders (SDR) 2,734.00p 1.75%
Diageo (DGE) 2,540.00p 1.68%
Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,475.50p 1.65%
Aveva Group (AVV) 4,874.00p 1.65%
National Grid (NG.) 850.00p 1.63%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,243.00p -2.74%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,049.00p -0.76%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 160.05p -0.40%
HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 286.85p -0.09%
DCC (DCC) 6,068.00p -0.07%
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 2,338.00p 0.00%
Kingfisher (KGF) 291.10p 0.07%
SEGRO (SGRO) 950.60p 0.08%
Polymetal International (POLY) 1,701.00p 0.09%
Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 997.20p 0.11%
FTSE 250 - Risers
PureTech Health (PRTC) 270.00p 5.26%
SSP Group (SSPG) 188.60p 4.37%
Cineworld Group (CINE) 45.87p 3.90%
Capita (CPI) 29.00p 3.46%
Law Debenture Corp. (LWDB) 510.00p 3.34%
Henderson Smaller Companies Inv Trust (HSL) 759.00p 3.12%
Biffa (BIFF) 205.50p 3.06%
RHI Magnesita N.V. (DI) (RHIM) 2,652.00p 2.95%
TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 276.40p 2.87%
Hilton Food Group (HFG) 1,186.00p 2.77%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Pets at Home Group (PETS) 290.40p -4.54%
Savills (SVS) 778.00p -2.08%
Jupiter Fund Management (JUP) 199.80p -1.77%
QinetiQ Group (QQ.) 251.00p -1.72%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 223.00p -1.59%
TP ICAP (TCAP) 281.40p -1.47%
Mitchells & Butlers (MAB) 126.80p -1.40%
Energean (ENOG) 614.40p -1.40%
PZ Cussons (PZC) 212.50p -1.16%
Softcat (SCT) 1,180.00p -0.92%
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