London open: Stocks snap four-day losing streak despite weak Chinese data
Abrdn
155.20p
16:40 03/05/24
Aerospace and Defence
10,853.21
16:54 03/05/24
Aggreko
869.50p
16:34 09/08/21
Fresnillo
549.50p
16:40 03/05/24
FTSE 100
8,213.49
16:59 03/05/24
FTSE 350
4,515.50
16:54 03/05/24
FTSE All-Share
4,469.09
17:14 03/05/24
InterContinental Hotels Group
7,726.00p
16:35 03/05/24
Life Insurance
5,897.35
16:54 03/05/24
Meggitt
798.80p
16:52 12/09/22
Mining
10,084.30
16:54 03/05/24
Old Mutual
210.90p
16:55 22/06/18
Support Services
10,662.27
16:54 03/05/24
Travel & Leisure
7,674.56
16:54 03/05/24
- Aggreko, Standard Life and Old Mutual impress with results
- Meggitt, IHG and Fresnillo disappoint
- Chinese services sector stagnates
techMARK 2,742.52 +0.04%
FTSE 100 6,708.32 +0.46%
FTSE 250 15,415.40 +0.34%
Strong gains from Aggreko, Standard Life and Old Mutual helped the FTSE 100 higher on Tuesday morning as UK stocks rebounded after four straight days of losses.
However, Meggitt's share price sank after the aerospace engineer reported a drop in first-half profit, while Intercontinental Hotels Group (IHG) and Fresnillo also disappointed with their interim results.
London's Footsie was trading nearly 0.5% higher at 6,708.32 in early trading, after a 2% slump over the last four sessions.
Investors were mostly shrugging off the news that growth in China's services sector ground to a halt in July, according to figures released by HSBC and Markit.
The 'non-official' China services purchasing managers' index (PMI) dropped sharply from 53.1 to just 50 in July, meaning that the non-manufacturing sector neither grew nor contracted last month. This was the lowest reading since records began in November 2005.
After a quiet session in terms of economic data on Monday, Tuesday's agenda is expected to pick up with PMI reading due across the Eurozone, UK and US. Eurozone retail sales and factory orders in the States will also be in focus.
Aggreko, Standard Life, Old Mutual
Temporary power and temperature control group Aggreko gained as it kept its full-year guidance after good underlying growth in the first half, though reported results were weaker due to the "significant adverse impact" from currency movements. Trading profit fell 10% but improved by 6% on an underlying basis.
Strong net inflows helped Standard Life grow assets under administration 4% to £254.1bn in the first half of the year, with revenues, profits and cash all increasing, pushing the stock higher early on.
Financial services group Old Mutual was also performing well after its majority-owned South African subsidiary Nedbank increased first-half earnings by 17.5% to 4.6bn rand (£256m).
However, shares in Meggitt dropped sharply after it said profits fell 20% in the first half, reflecting the impact of currency headwinds and disposals on revenue.
IHG was firmly lower after missing forecasts in the first half. The hotels group gave an upbeat outlook but said underlying operating profits rose 6% to $301m, missing the $305m consensus estimate.
Mexico-focused precious metals miner Fresnillo was also under pressure after profits dropped in the first half of 2014 as a result of "significantly lower" commodity prices and a sharp decline in gold production.
FTSE 100 - Risers
Aggreko (AGK) 1,785.00p +3.72%
Weir Group (WEIR) 2,597.00p +2.85%
Standard Life (SL.) 373.60p +2.52%
Intertek Group (ITRK) 2,760.00p +2.00%
Legal & General Group (LGEN) 236.10p +1.33%
Old Mutual (OML) 196.80p +1.29%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 869.00p +1.22%
Compass Group (CPG) 961.00p +1.21%
Associated British Foods (ABF) 2,792.00p +1.20%
SABMiller (SAB) 3,226.00p +1.14%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Meggitt (MGGT) 467.00p -7.25%
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 2,289.00p -3.21%
Royal Mail (RMG) 415.90p -1.14%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 341.50p -0.99%
IMI (IMI) 1,403.00p -0.99%
Hammerson (HMSO) 590.50p -0.92%
Fresnillo (FRES) 935.00p -0.69%
easyJet (EZJ) 1,268.00p -0.55%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 1,034.00p -0.48%
Barclays (BARC) 223.10p -0.38%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Imagination Technologies Group (IMG) 193.00p +5.93%
Perform Group (PER) 232.00p +4.27%
Rotork (ROR) 2,843.00p +3.23%
Fidessa Group (FDSA) 2,091.00p +2.90%
Grafton Group Units (GFTU) 580.00p +2.29%
Wood Group (John) (WG.) 742.00p +2.20%
International Personal Finance (IPF) 559.50p +2.10%
Keller Group (KLR) 905.50p +1.86%
Millennium & Copthorne Hotels (MLC) 580.50p +1.84%
Tullett Prebon (TLPR) 257.70p +1.74%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Afren (AFR) 104.10p -2.71%
BH Global Ltd. USD Shares (BHGU) 11.75 -2.41%
Inmarsat (ISAT) 710.00p -1.59%
Barr (A.G.) (BAG) 654.50p -1.50%
Infinis Energy (INFI) 211.00p -1.17%
Poundland Group (PLND) 319.40p -1.11%
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 2,400.00p -1.07%
Petra Diamonds Ltd.(DI) (PDL) 196.60p -0.96%
CSR (CSR) 529.50p -0.94%
African Barrick Gold (ABG) 259.60p -0.92%
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