London open: Stocks drop as Reckitt disappoints; US tech earnings eyed

London stocks fell in early trade on Tuesday as investors waded through a raft of earnings, with consumer goods giant Reckitt pacing the decline after disappointing results.

At 0900 BST, the FTSE 100 was down 1.2% at 6,939.10.

Lukman Otunuga, senior research analyst at FXTM, said investors were wary ahead of important tech earnings in the US.

"It’s a big day for big tech as heavyweights such as Apple, Microsoft and Alphabet will report their latest quarterly earnings. If these titans report much better-than-expected quarterly results and revenues, this could further empower US equity bulls.

"In the meantime, a sense of caution is likely to linger across markets as investors adopt a guarded approach due to the Asian volatility and Federal Reserve policy meeting on Wednesday."

In equity markets, Reckitt slid after saying it swung to a loss in the first half as it wrote down the value of its Infant Formula and China Nutrition assets.

Online greeting card company Moonpig was also in the red after saying it had doubled revenue and profits in its maiden results as a listed company, but warning of a fall in sales in the coming months as Covid restrictions were eased.

Ascential lost ground after it raised £153m in a placing to provide the group with greater balance sheet flexibility "to use its proven M&A playbook and execute on its strong pipeline of attractive, on-strategy target opportunities".

Games Workshop retreated even as the miniature wargames manufacturer posted a jump in full-year profit and revenue and lifted its dividend as it continued to benefit from increased interest in its miniature figures since Covid restrictions were put in place.

On the upside, speciality chemicals company Croda jumped to the top of the FTSE 100 as it said annual profit was set to be well ahead of expectations and reported record results for the first half.

Irish convenience food group Greencore also rallied as it lifted annual profits guidance after a strong third quarter, as Covid lockdown measures were relaxed.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 6,939.10 -1.23%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 22,707.31 -0.98%
techMARK (TASX) 4,422.68 -0.74%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Croda International (CRDA) 8,070.00p 3.12%
Just Eat Takeaway.Com N.V. (CDI) (JET) 6,068.00p 1.29%
Flutter Entertainment (CDI) (FLTR) 12,695.00p 0.83%
Intertek Group (ITRK) 5,498.00p 0.51%
SEGRO (SGRO) 1,192.00p 0.13%
Tesco (TSCO) 232.60p 0.09%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 279.80p 0.07%
Avast (AVST) 578.40p 0.03%
DCC (CDI) (DCC) 6,008.00p 0.03%
Rightmove (RMV) 667.80p -0.06%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Reckitt Benckiser Group (RKT) 5,650.00p -9.24%
Intermediate Capital Group (ICP) 2,190.00p -3.23%
Prudential (PRU) 1,330.00p -2.67%
Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 1,301.00p -2.58%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 5,956.00p -2.52%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,458.00p -2.51%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 155.15p -2.45%
Glencore (GLEN) 319.20p -2.15%
NATWEST GROUP PLC ORD 100P (NWG) 197.40p -2.13%
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 910.80p -2.11%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Greencore Group (CDI) (GNC) 132.50p 2.79%
Baillie Gifford US Growth Trust (USA) 354.50p 1.43%
Just Eat Takeaway.Com N.V. (CDI) (JET) 6,068.00p 1.29%
Airtel Africa (AAF) 83.05p 0.73%
Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 266.90p 0.72%
Baillie Gifford Japan Trust (BGFD) 1,024.00p 0.59%
BlackRock Smaller Companies Trust (BRSC) 2,010.00p 0.50%
JPMorgan American Inv Trust (JAM) 676.00p 0.45%
Ultra Electronics Holdings (ULE) 3,122.00p 0.39%
Pantheon International (PIN) 2,665.00p 0.38%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Moonpig Group (MOON) 394.60p -7.07%
Ascential (ASCL) 425.60p -6.34%
Fidelity China Special Situations (FCSS) 340.00p -4.90%
Games Workshop Group (GAW) 11,270.00p -4.49%
Schroder Asia Pacific Fund (SDP) 575.00p -3.04%
AO World (AO.) 221.20p -2.56%
Crest Nicholson Holdings (CRST) 402.00p -2.43%
IG Group Holdings (IGG) 859.00p -2.39%
Morgan Sindall Group (MGNS) 2,310.00p -2.33%
Wood Group (John) (WG.) 211.70p -2.31%