London open: Stocks edge higher ahead of manufacturing data; Next bucks trend
London stocks edged higher in early trade on Wednesday as investors sifted through corporate news ahead of some key manufacturing data, although retailer Next bucked the trend after disappointing third-quarter results.
At 0830 BST, the FTSE 100 was up 0.4% to 7,523.91, while the pound was up 0.2% versus the euro at 1.1422 and 0.1% firmer against the dollar at 1.3301.
Spreadex analyst Connor Campbell said: "Now the FTSE and the pound just need to withstand the morning’s UK manufacturing PMI. After smashing forecasts in July and August, September saw the PMI post fairly sizeable miss; it’s expected to have continued to cool in October, with analysts forecasting a slight dip from 55.9 to 55.8 month-on-month (though estimates haven’t been anywhere near accurate for a while)."
Markit's manufacturing PMI is at 0930 GMT, while the Federal Reserve's latest policy announcement is at 1800 GMT, although no change to rates is expected.
As far as the UK is concerned, the Bank of England will make its policy announcement on Thursday amid expectations of the first rate hike since 2007.
A survey released earlier by Nationwide earlier revealed that UK house price growth ticked up a little to a three month high in October. House prices increased 2.5% on the year versus 2.3% in September, beating analysts' expectations for a slowdown to 2.2%. On the month, prices were up 0.2%, in line with expectations but down from 0.4%.
In corporate news, Next was under the cosh after saying it continued to sustain declines in full price sales from its shops in the third quarter but thanks to strong online and catalogue growth the clothing retailer marched on towards its full year targets. Marks & Spencer and Primark owner Associated British Foods were also under pressure.
Standard Chartered was also in the red after it posted adjusted pre-tax profit of $814m for the third quarter and operating income of $3.59bn, versus estimates of $3.64bn, while Just Group ticked lower as it posted a drop in total sales for the third quarter.
On the upside, Paddy Power Betfair rallied after it said trading was good in the third quarter, prompting the bookmaker to make a small upgrade to its annual profit guidance.
AstraZeneca was in the black after mixed news. The pharmaceuticals giant said the US Food and Drug Administration has granted accelerated approval to Calquence (acalabrutinib) - a kinase inhibitor indicated for the treatment of adult patients with mantle cell lymphoma who have received at least one prior therapy. However, the company also announced disappointing results for an asthma therapy it has been developing.
Old Mutual edged higher after announcing that the strategic minority shareholding to be retained in South African banking firm Nedbank Group, to underpin the ongoing commercial relationship between the companies, has been agreed at 19.9%.
Irish packaging company Smurfit Kappa advanced as it posted a rise in third-quarter revenue and announced acquisitions in Greece and Russia to expand the group's footprint.
Indivior surged after the company's long-lasting treatment of opioid use disorder was recommended for approval by the US drug regulator's advisory body.
Halma gained ground as it completed the acquisition of Mini-Cam from Lloyds Development Capital and a group of private shareholders for an initial cash consideration of £62m.
CLS Holdings advanced after completing the disposal of Centenary Court in Bradford to a private investor for £14.35m.
In broker note action, Pagegroup was boosted by an upgrade to 'buy' at Panmure Gordon, while G4S gained as Jefferies bumped it up to 'buy' and InterContinental Hotels was lifted by an upgrade to 'outperform' at Credit Suisse.
On the downside, Debenhams was hit by a downgrade to 'sell' at Liberum.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,525.40 0.43%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,406.63 0.88%
techMARK (TASX) 3,559.31 0.94%
FTSE 100 - Risers
G4S (GFS) 294.00p 4.63%
Paddy Power Betfair (PPB) 7,980.00p 3.57%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,469.00p 3.45%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 978.50p 2.51%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,396.50p 2.50%
Glencore (GLEN) 371.30p 2.29%
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 4,253.00p 1.94%
Smurfit Kappa Group (SKG) 2,285.00p 1.83%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,612.50p 1.80%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 5,114.00p 1.63%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Next (NXT) 4,624.00p -6.04%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 710.90p -5.26%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 331.10p -3.78%
Associated British Foods (ABF) 3,251.00p -2.43%
Centrica (CNA) 167.20p -1.53%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 962.00p -1.13%
British Land Company (BLND) 595.00p -1.00%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 240.10p -0.99%
Tesco (TSCO) 179.75p -0.91%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 957.50p -0.88%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Indivior (INDV) 411.90p 10.84%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 268.90p 5.78%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 930.00p 4.73%
Evraz (EVR) 300.10p 4.02%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 188.90p 3.79%
Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 841.00p 3.44%
Halma (HLMA) 1,220.00p 3.21%
Cairn Energy (CNE) 217.70p 2.98%
Fisher (James) & Sons (FSJ) 1,600.00p 2.83%
Hunting (HTG) 537.50p 2.67%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Rank Group (RNK) 234.70p -1.35%
Supergroup (SGP) 1,833.00p -1.13%
Provident Financial (PFG) 921.00p -1.13%
Royal Mail (RMG) 370.40p -1.07%
Booker Group (BOK) 199.40p -0.89%
Spire Healthcare Group (SPI) 294.70p -0.77%
Vietnam Enterprise Investments (DI) (VEIL) 392.10p -0.66%
Coats Group (COA) 85.00p -0.64%
Pershing Square Holdings Ltd NPV (PSH) 1,020.00p -0.58%
Dixons Carphone (DC.) 172.40p -0.58%