London open: FTSE gains as Brits head to the polls

London stocks rose in early trade on Thursday as Brits headed to the polls amid expectations the Labour party will be voted into power for the first time in 14 years.

At 0820 BST, the FTSE 100 was up 0.4% at 8,206.88.

Derren Nathan, head of equity research at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "The FTSE 100 has followed the rally in other overseas markets opening up 0.45% to over 8,200, as the UK braces for the electorate’s decision.

"The ballot boxes close at 10pm this evening. Opinion polls are suggesting one of the biggest landslides the nation has ever seen for Labour, but they have been wrong before.

"In a shortened trading session ahead of today’s 4 July celebrations, investors have been digesting weak jobs data in the US. Private payroll growth came in at 150,000 for June, below analyst forecasts. And weekly jobless claims continued their upwards journey for the ninth week in a row. All eyes will now be on tomorrow’s non-farm payroll numbers."

Still to come on the UK macroeconomic front, the S&P Global CIPS construction PMI for June is at 0930 BST.

In equity markets, Smith & Nephew surged to the top of the FTSE 100 after activist investor Cevian Capital bought a 5% stake in the medical equipment manufacturer. Cevian now holds 43.9m shares in the company, making it the third largest shareholder.

Precision instrument maker Spectris gained as it announced the acquisition of US-based SciAps for up to $260m (£205m). Based in Boston, Massachusetts, SciAps is a specialist provider of handheld instruments for materials analysis.

Great Portland Estates was also in the black as it reported robust leasing activity in the quarter ended 30 June.

In broker note action, Bunzl was boosted by an upgrade to ‘buy’ at HSBC, while Ibstock was trading higher after RBC Capital Markets initiated coverage of the shares at ‘outperform’.

On the downside, polymer maker Victrex slumped as it reported volume and revenue growth for the third quarter but cautioned over difficult trading at its medical segment.

Retailer Next was also in the red as it traded without entitlement to the dividend.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 8,206.88 0.44%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,519.55 -0.05%
techMARK (TASX) 4,754.64 0.61%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,034.50p 4.90%
Bunzl (BNZL) 3,086.00p 1.78%
Barclays (BARC) 221.05p 1.33%
Schroders (SDR) 379.20p 1.28%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 149.25p 1.19%
HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 693.00p 1.12%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 460.70p 1.08%
Weir Group (WEIR) 1,985.00p 1.07%
M&G (MNG) 207.80p 0.87%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 642.50p 0.86%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Next (NXT) 8,988.00p -1.36%
Mondi (MNDI) 1,532.50p -0.65%
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 1,814.00p -0.49%
Intermediate Capital Group (ICG) 2,198.00p -0.45%
Smurfit Kappa Group (CDI) (SKG) 3,496.00p -0.34%
easyJet (EZJ) 461.60p -0.28%
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 112.65p -0.22%
London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) 9,218.00p -0.22%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 173.00p -0.20%
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 8,204.00p -0.19%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Grainger (GRI) 244.50p 2.30%
Pagegroup (PAGE) 433.40p 2.27%
Computacenter (CCC) 3,004.00p 2.25%
Playtech (PTEC) 488.50p 2.20%
Safestore Holdings (SAFE) 808.50p 2.15%
TI Fluid Systems (TIFS) 133.60p 1.98%
Ibstock (IBST) 168.60p 1.81%
Great Portland Estates (GPE) 349.50p 1.75%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 304.90p 1.43%
Morgan Advanced Materials (MGAM) 313.50p 1.29%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Hilton Food Group (HFG) 865.00p -4.31%
JTC (JTC) 952.00p -3.64%
PZ Cussons (PZC) 100.20p -2.72%
Morgan Sindall Group (MGNS) 2,525.00p -2.70%
Diversified Energy Company (DEC) 1,073.00p -2.01%
Premier Foods (PFD) 157.00p -2.00%
Just Group (JUST) 104.00p -1.89%
Discoverie Group (DSCV) 679.00p -1.88%
Endeavour Mining (EDV) 1,719.00p -1.72%
PureTech Health (PRTC) 176.00p -1.68%