London open: Stocks dip as investors mull Fed minutes

London stocks dipped in early trade on Thursday, taking their cue from a downbeat session on Wall Street, as investors digested the latest minutes from the US Federal Reserve.

At 0840 BST, the FTSE 100 was down 0.2% at 7,502.91.

Victoria Scholar, head of investment at Interactive Investor, said: "Negative momentum from a down day on US and Asian markets has carried forward to the European session with markets opening in the red. The FTSE 100 is underperforming, trading below resistance at 7,500 while the DAX and the FTSE MIB are eking out modest gains.

"US markets closed lower after the Fed’s meeting minutes for July showed that policymakers saw little evidence that inflationary pressures are softening stateside. The FOMC appears to be committed to its rate hiking path with the potential for a 50 or 75 basis point rate hike in September followed by a possible slowdown in the pace of rate increases in the following months."

In equity markets, Abrdn, Legal & General, HSBC and Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust all fell as they traded without entitlement to the dividend.

Gambling company Rank Group lost ground as it said in its final results that trading conditions were likely to remain challenging in the months ahead with high inflation hitting consumer discretionary spend and inflationary cost pressures continuing to impact operating margins.

Building and landscaping materials company Marshalls was a little weaker as it held full year-guidance and posted a jump in interim profits, but noted that the tough economic backdrop would hit consumer confidence.

Telecommunications infrastructure company Helios Towers rose after it backed its guidance for the year and reported a jump in first-half earnings, hailing strong organic tenancy growth.

AO World surged even as the online electricals retailer said it swung to a full-year loss due to higher costs.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,502.91 -0.17%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,045.46 0.09%
techMARK (TASX) 4,329.14 -0.11%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Ocado Group (OCDO) 933.40p 1.26%
Harbour Energy (HBR) 388.90p 1.04%
Persimmon (PSN) 1,721.50p 1.03%
BP (BP.) 435.10p 0.97%
Imperial Brands (IMB) 1,932.50p 0.97%
Pershing Square Holdings Ltd NPV (PSH) 2,735.00p 0.92%
DCC (CDI) (DCC) 5,232.00p 0.81%
Tesco (TSCO) 271.00p 0.78%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 118.00p 0.77%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 467.20p 0.75%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Abrdn (ABDN) 158.25p -4.67%
Anglo American (AAL) 2,849.00p -3.96%
Aviva (AV.) 444.70p -3.07%
Legal & General Group (LGEN) 273.90p -2.98%
M&G (MNG) 208.00p -2.76%
HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 535.50p -1.76%
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 1,468.50p -1.48%
Rightmove (RMV) 633.20p -1.12%
Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 885.80p -0.92%
Croda International (CRDA) 7,184.00p -0.88%

FTSE 250 - Risers

XP Power Ltd. (DI) (XPP) 2,400.00p 4.35%
Hilton Food Group (HFG) 1,070.00p 3.68%
Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 122.70p 3.28%
Lancashire Holdings Limited (LRE) 494.20p 2.07%
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 2,210.00p 1.70%
RIT Capital Partners (RCP) 2,480.00p 1.64%
Helios Towers (HTWS) 137.00p 1.41%
888 Holdings (DI) (888) 151.80p 1.40%
JPMorgan Japanese Inv Trust (JFJ) 507.00p 1.40%
BlackRock World Mining Trust (BRWM) 618.00p 1.31%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Pets at Home Group (PETS) 347.60p -4.82%
Petershill Partners (PHLL) 222.00p -2.42%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 73.40p -2.07%
JTC (JTC) 759.00p -2.06%
Auction Technology Group (ATG) 908.00p -1.94%
Marshalls (MSLH) 447.00p -1.80%
Micro Focus International (MCRO) 282.80p -1.53%
Safestore Holdings (SAFE) 1,135.00p -1.48%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 142.50p -1.45%
HarbourVest Global Private Equity Limited A Shs (HVPE) 2,310.00p -1.28%