London open: Stocks edge higher ahead of EU summit
London stocks edged a little higher in early trade on Friday as investors eyed an EU summit in Brussels to discuss a coronavirus rescue fund.
At 0825 BST, the FTSE 100 was up 0.2% at 6,263.92.
CMC Markets analyst David Madden said: "The EU summit will be in focus today as divisions over the $750 billion rescue fund will be on traders’ minds. Funds will be deployed to countries that have been hardest hit. The current proposal is that €500 will be handed out as grants, while the remaining €250 billion will be dispensed as loans.
"The ‘frugal four’, The Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark and Austria, oppose such a large percentage of the funds being allocated as grants without conditions. The likes of Spain and Italy would benefit from the current proposal, so the old north-south divide pops up again. There is no doubt the region needs a financial boost, but nothing is likely to be agreed upon soon."
Market participants were also mulling the latest results from Netflix, whose shares fell overnight after second-quarter earnings per share missed expectations but revenue beat. In addition, the streaming giant’s subscriber growth guidance for the third quarter failed to impress.
Meanwhile, worries about the coronavirus outbreak continued to weigh on sentiment after US cases rose by 75,000 in 24 hours, marking a fresh daily record.
In equity markets, Homeserve rallied after saying it expected a solid performance in the current financial year as the home repair company indicated trading was picking up well after Covid-19 lockdowns.
Iron ore miner Rio Tinto was up after it reported a 1.5% rise in second-quarter iron ore shipments and said demand from China was improving as the country’s economy recovers from the coronavirus pandemic.
Essentra ticked higher after saying it has reached a settlement with the US Department of Justice and will pay a $666,543 cash penalty related to unauthorised transactions dating back to 2018 by two employees of its subsidiary, Essentra FZE, and linked to North Korea.
Asset manager Ninety One was also higher as it said assets under management rose to £118bn as at 30 June from £103.4bn at the end of March.
On the downside, British Airways and Iberia owner IAG was the worst performer on the FTSE 100 after BA announced late on Thursday that it was retiring all of its Boeing 747s as the travel industry takes a hit from the pandemic.
Sales, marketing and support services group DCC was a little weaker as it said trading in the first quarter was better than it expected but down on the year before because of lockdown restrictions.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 6,263.92 0.21%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 17,258.12 -0.36%
techMARK (TASX) 3,776.94 0.41%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Homeserve (HSV) 1,333.00p 2.30%
Just Eat Takeaway.Com N.V. (CDI) (JET) 8,346.00p 1.95%
Phoenix Group Holdings (PHNX) 677.60p 1.65%
Avast (AVST) 582.50p 1.30%
BAE Systems (BA.) 483.20p 1.24%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 270.80p 1.16%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 2,828.00p 1.13%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 8,941.00p 1.10%
National Grid (NG.) 886.00p 0.98%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 878.60p 0.92%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 221.10p -1.34%
Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 2,086.00p -0.86%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 535.00p -0.82%
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,036.00p -0.77%
Polymetal International (POLY) 1,585.50p -0.72%
Royal Dutch Shell 'A' (RDSA) 1,313.20p -0.71%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 444.70p -0.69%
Persimmon (PSN) 2,610.00p -0.65%
Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 1,247.60p -0.56%
BP (BP.) 310.95p -0.48%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Renishaw (RSW) 4,602.00p 3.88%
Calisen (CLSN) 192.00p 3.78%
Energean (ENOG) 559.00p 3.52%
Ninety One (N91) 225.20p 2.64%
Go-Ahead Group (GOG) 707.00p 2.46%
William Hill (WMH) 119.75p 2.35%
Just Eat Takeaway.Com N.V. (CDI) (JET) 8,346.00p 1.95%
Smithson Investment Trust (SSON) 1,526.00p 1.46%
FirstGroup (FGP) 32.86p 1.29%
Oxford Biomedica (OXB) 855.00p 1.18%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Pets at Home Group (PETS) 220.00p -4.35%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 217.60p -3.03%
Crest Nicholson Holdings (CRST) 208.60p -2.89%
Liontrust Asset Management (LIO) 1,240.00p -2.75%
Avon Rubber (AVON) 3,400.00p -2.72%
Polypipe Group (PLP) 420.00p -2.67%
Perpetual Income & Growth Inv Trust (PLI) 219.00p -2.45%
Inchcape (INCH) 447.60p -2.36%
Equiniti Group (EQN) 141.00p -2.35%
Vivo Energy (VVO) 75.30p -1.95%