London open: Stocks nudge lower ahead of eurozone, US inflation data

London stocks nudged a touch lower in early trade on Thursday as investors eyed eurozone and US inflation data.

At 0900 GMT, the FTSE 100 was down 0.1% at 7,412.87.

The eurozone data is due at 1000 GMT, while US PCE for October is scheduled for release at 1330 GMT.

Investors were also looked ahead to an OPEC+ meeting later in the day, during which the oil cartel is expected to cut the amount of crude oil it produces.

In equity markets, broker notes were having an impact, with NatWest among the top performers on the FTSE 100 after an upgrade to ‘overweight’ at JPMorgan.

B&M European Value Retail was also higher after an upgrade to ‘buy’ at Peel Hunt and an initiation of coverage at ‘equalweight’ by Morgan Stanley.

Metro Bank rallied as it announced plans to axe around 20% of its staff and said it was reviewing its policy of keeping branches open seven days a week as it looks to save around £50m a year.

On the downside, Severn Trent, Bellway and Johnson Matthey all fell as they traded without entitlement to the dividend.

Auction Technology slid as it posted a 24% drop in full-year pre-tax profit and revenue missed expectations.

Iconic bootmaker Dr Martens tumbled as it warned on profits, saying the Autumn/Winter season has been hit by warm weather and weaker traffic.

The company now expects FY24 revenue to decline by high single-digit percentage year-on-year, on a constant currency basis. Assuming this revenue outturn, earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation are expected to be "moderately" below the bottom end of the range of consensus expectations of between £223.7m and £240m.

Media group Future was under the cosh after a downgrade to ‘sell’ at Canaccord Genuity.

Mitchells & Butlers also lost ground as the restaurants, pubs and bars group reported a big decline in annual profits on the back of significant cost headwinds and property valuation movements, which outweighed strong sales growth over the year.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,412.87 -0.14%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 18,363.43 -0.56%
techMARK (TASX) 4,071.41 -0.15%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 268.20p 1.82%
Smith (DS) (SMDS) 288.40p 1.48%
BP (BP.) 478.30p 1.35%
B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 583.40p 1.28%
Imperial Brands (IMB) 1,847.50p 0.71%
Smurfit Kappa Group (CDI) (SKG) 2,892.00p 0.70%
Frasers Group (FRAS) 900.50p 0.67%
NATWEST GROUP (NWG) 207.70p 0.63%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 644.00p 0.56%
Aviva (AV.) 417.90p 0.55%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Severn Trent (SVT) 2,617.00p -3.65%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 1,108.50p -1.47%
Prudential (PRU) 842.80p -1.33%
Experian (EXPN) 2,887.00p -1.06%
National Grid (NG.) 1,015.00p -1.02%
Mondi (MNDI) 1,386.50p -0.96%
3i Group (III) 2,211.00p -0.90%
Associated British Foods (ABF) 2,367.00p -0.88%
Entain (ENT) 793.80p -0.80%
Unilever (ULVR) 3,726.00p -0.73%

FTSE 250 - Risers

SThree (STEM) 429.50p 4.12%
CAB Payments Holdings (CABP) 61.55p 3.79%
Carnival (CCL) 1,053.50p 2.08%
Ithaca Energy (ITH) 155.40p 1.70%
TBC Bank Group (TBCG) 2,840.00p 1.25%
Discoverie Group (DSCV) 630.00p 0.96%
FirstGroup (FGP) 161.20p 0.94%
Bridgepoint Group (Reg S) (BPT) 228.40p 0.88%
Quilter (QLT) 93.90p 0.86%
Harbour Energy (HBR) 225.20p 0.85%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Dr. Martens (DOCS) 92.00p -19.86%
Auction Technology Group (ATG) 549.00p -12.86%
Future (FUTR) 880.00p -8.33%
888 Holdings (DI) (888) 72.55p -4.91%
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 1,530.50p -4.73%
Bellway (BWY) 2,362.00p -4.45%
Diversified Energy Company (DEC) 65.25p -4.19%
Mitchells & Butlers (MAB) 232.80p -3.96%
Abrdn (ABDN) 160.75p -3.86%
Digital 9 Infrastructure NPV (DGI9) 32.95p -3.09%