London open: FTSE rises as travel shares recover; Prudential pleases

London equity markets rose in early trade on Wednesday as travel shares bounced back, while solid results from the likes of Prudential and Legal & General also lent a hand.

At 0850 GMT, the FTSE 100 was up 1.8% at 7,087.94, while Brent crude was trading just over $130 a barrel after the US announced a ban on imports of Russian oil, with the UK also set to phase out imports by the end of the year.

Neil Wilson, chief market analyst at Markets.com, said: "European stock markets are enjoying a bounce this morning - some sense that the recent moves were oversold, valuations attractive...bear market rally as stagflation is coming.

"One could point out that while the West was worrying about asinine stuff like pronouns, dreaming up a gazillion new genders, apologising for just about anything, including to the victims of 17th Century witch hunts, and seeking ways to decarbonise our economies - whatever the cost, Russia was getting on with being a bit of a powerhouse in terms of producing the actual stuff that people actually need.

"This matters now because the West is cutting off all this supply, and it doesn’t have a ready replacement. And so, when people say Russia’s economy is tiny, ‘it doesn’t matter’, they miss the point that it was tiny compared to some la-la-land way of looking at how much stuff is ‘worth’. In a world when hard assets are king, Russia has some aces. But it needs to deploy them, and that is getting harder and harder."

In equity markets, Anglo-Russian precious metals miner Polymetal was the top performer on the FTSE 100 after saying there had been no disruption to its operations in Russia and Kazakhstan despite sanctions imposed on Russia after its invasion of Ukraine.

Russian steelmaker Evraz also shot higher after saying it had not been affected by international sanctions imposed on Russia.

Asia-focused insurer Prudential was among the gainers as it reported a rise in annual operating profit driven by new business amid the Covid pandemic. Adjusted operating profit increased 16% to $3.23bn and beat the consensus of $3.19bn.

Legal & General was up after it posted a jump in 2021 profit and lifted its dividend as it benefited from a post-pandemic economic recovery and an easing of restrictions.

Electrocomponents rallied after it said in an update that revenue and adjusted operating profit margin were tracking ahead of expectations following a strong performance over the last nine weeks.

Network International was also a high riser after it said full-year profit surged more than 900%.

Travel-related shares were also in the black, with BA owner IAG, Wizz, easyJet, Tui and Carnival all sharply higher.

On the downside, miners slumped, with Rio Tinto, Glencore, Antofagasta and Anglo American all weaker.

Gambling company 888 was also on the back foot despite posting record full-year results.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,087.94 1.78%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,640.74 2.20%
techMARK (TASX) 4,094.33 1.17%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Polymetal International (POLY) 130.00p 41.27%
Evraz (EVR) 90.84p 16.52%
Prudential (PRU) 1,108.00p 7.83%
M&G (MNG) 220.20p 7.36%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 129.36p 6.66%
Electrocomponents (ECM) 919.50p 5.93%
Associated British Foods (ABF) 1,716.00p 5.50%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 96.17p 5.24%
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 4,786.00p 5.19%
Smith (DS) (SMDS) 310.50p 5.01%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Rio Tinto (RIO) 5,738.00p -2.53%
Royal Mail (RMG) 340.90p -2.24%
Fresnillo (FRES) 790.80p -2.18%
Glencore (GLEN) 467.00p -1.93%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,492.00p -1.71%
Admiral Group (ADM) 2,432.00p -1.30%
BAE Systems (BA.) 745.40p -1.19%
Anglo American (AAL) 3,801.50p -0.81%
Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,192.50p -0.42%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 1,103.50p -0.14%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 2,808.00p 11.56%
Network International Holdings (NETW) 190.00p 10.59%
easyJet (EZJ) 483.00p 8.05%
TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 215.90p 7.90%
National Express Group (NEX) 207.00p 7.48%
Carnival (CCL) 1,167.20p 6.87%
Trainline (TRN) 169.50p 6.60%
Quilter (QLT) 124.75p 6.08%
Auction Technology Group (ATG) 887.00p 5.97%
Trustpilot Group (TRST) 135.70p 5.52%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

888 Holdings (888) 185.00p -4.15%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 120.90p -3.59%
Capricorn Energy (CNE) 193.90p -3.15%
Endeavour Mining (EDV) 2,030.00p -2.87%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 106.65p -2.82%
Energean (ENOG) 1,067.00p -2.11%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 143.60p -1.98%
Domino's Pizza Group (DOM) 362.20p -1.58%
QinetiQ Group (QQ.) 300.40p -1.05%
Harbour Energy (HBR) 396.20p -1.00%