London open: FTSE little changed but Ocado, Darktrace surge

London stocks were little changed in early trade on Tuesday as investors eyed the latest US retail sales data and big earnings releases across the pond, as well as this week’s UK inflation figures.

At 0845 BST, the FTSE 100 was up just 0.1% at 7,412.53.

Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "Caution is set to dominate trading in London ahead of tomorrow’s latest reading on consumer prices. Headline inflation is expected to limp downwards, but worries will be creeping back in about food prices staying sticky, with Russia exiting the Black Sea grain deal, and refusing to guarantee safe passage for ships exporting wheat and corn.

"After a spritely start to the week there is set to be a bit more wariness on Wall Street ahead of more corporate results, with financials in focus including Bank of America and Morgan Stanley. JP Morgan set a high bar on Friday with results beating expectations. Bank of America is expected to report some robust numbers given that the consumer banking business remains strong, and credit conditions haven’t markedly deteriorated.

"With inflation trotting down closer to target, and economic indicators showing resilience, there will be hopes less money will have to be set aside for bad loans. Although Morgan Stanley’s investment banking business is set to continue to show weakness, its wealth management business could once again be a bulwark, helping offset falling fees."

In equity markets, online supermarket Ocado surged to the top of the FTSE 100 as it held annual guidance after swinging to a core profit in its first half and said its retail earnings would be "marginally positive" for the full year.

Meanwhile, Darktrace shot to the top of the FTSE 250 after it said an independent review by EY had not flagged any issues not already known to the company and that the findings of the review would have no impact on previously-filed public company financial statements.

The cybersecurity firm also said it expects year-over-year revenue growth of at least 31% for FY23, and 29.2% at constant currency.

Just Group rallied after it backed its expectations for the year as it reported a near doubling of its first-half retirement income sales, underpinned by a strong annuities market.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,412.53 0.08%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 18,468.60 0.35%
techMARK (TASX) 4,355.56 0.16%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Ocado Group (OCDO) 647.60p 11.46%
Mondi (MNDI) 1,289.50p 1.06%
Frasers Group (FRAS) 735.00p 1.03%
Spirax-Sarco Engineering (SPX) 10,785.00p 1.03%
Flutter Entertainment (CDI) (FLTR) 15,580.00p 0.94%
Anglo American (AAL) 2,308.50p 0.79%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 5,408.00p 0.75%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 503.60p 0.72%
Convatec Group (CTEC) 209.20p 0.67%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 10,266.00p 0.65%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Beazley (BEZ) 557.50p -1.33%
Airtel Africa (AAF) 103.60p -0.86%
Prudential (PRU) 1,049.50p -0.85%
Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 826.60p -0.74%
Vodafone Group (VOD) 71.37p -0.72%
Rentokil Initial (RTO) 620.00p -0.51%
3i Group (III) 1,918.00p -0.47%
F&C Investment Trust (FCIT) 863.00p -0.46%
Unite Group (UTG) 905.50p -0.44%
BT Group (BT.A) 122.50p -0.41%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Darktrace (DARK) 360.00p 22.45%
Digital 9 Infrastructure NPV (DGI9) 58.00p 8.61%
Just Group (JUST) 82.90p 7.38%
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 336.20p 2.06%
BlackRock World Mining Trust (BRWM) 620.00p 1.97%
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 1,850.50p 1.79%
Murray International Trust (MYI) 244.00p 1.67%
Ninety One (N91) 171.10p 1.66%
Foresight Solar Fund Limited (FSFL) 99.30p 1.43%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 197.25p 1.41%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Baltic Classifieds Group (BCG) 193.80p -2.61%
TI Fluid Systems (TIFS) 130.40p -2.40%
Morgan Sindall Group (MGNS) 1,770.00p -2.10%
European Opportunities Trust (EOT) 770.00p -1.28%
4Imprint Group (FOUR) 4,515.00p -1.10%
Telecom Plus (TEP) 1,660.00p -1.07%
Edinburgh Worldwide Inv Trust (EWI) 142.20p -0.84%
Ascential (ASCL) 218.80p -0.82%
Finsbury Growth & Income Trust (FGT) 877.00p -0.79%
IWG (IWG) 141.00p -0.77%