London open: Stocks edge higher as investors digest mixed China data

Stocks in London edged higher in early trade as investors digested some mixed Chinese data ahead of the release of UK manufacturing figures.

At 0820 BST, the FTSE 100 was up 0.6% to 6,822.88.

At the same time, oil prices were a little firmer, with West Texas Intermediate up 0.5% at $44.94 a barrel and Brent crude up 0.4% at $47.08.

An official survey in China showed factory activity in the world’s second-largest economy grew at its fastest rate in nearly two years last month.

The official purchasing managers’ index rose to 50.4 in August from 49.9 in July, marking its best level since October 2014. It was also ahead of economists’ expectations for an unchanged reading.

However, the Markit/Caixin PMI fell to 50 in August from 50.6 in July, missing expectations for a reading of 50.1.

Finally, the official services PMI declined to 53.5 from 53.9 the month before.

Investors will be looking to the release of the UK manufacturing PMI at 0930 BST, but the main focus will be Friday’s non-farm payrolls report, particularly after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said last week that a move on rates was dependent on upcoming data.

CMC Markets’ Michael Hewson said: “The latest UK manufacturing survey could well assuage some concerns about the health of the UK economy in the wake of the recent Brexit vote, if as expected we get a rebound from July’s disappointing 48.2 reading, with an August rebound to 49.1 expected.”

In corporate news, FTSE 250 recruiter Hays was in the red despite reporting a rise in profit for the year to the end of June as net fee income grew. The company said it was too early to gauge how Brexit will affect the business.

Safestore was on the front foot as it said that after a solid third quarter's trading, it was confident that adjusted earnings would be slightly ahead of current market expectations.

AstraZeneca edged higher as it announced the completion of its commercialisation agreement with Aspen Global Incorporated, for rights to its global anaesthetics portfolio outside the US.

FTSE 250 payment solutions provider Paysafe pushed up after acquiring affiliate technology business Income Access Group for a cash consideration of CAD40m.

In the US, initial jobless claims are at 1330 BST, while construction spending and ISM manufacturing are at 1500 BST.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 6,818.42 0.54%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 17,752.89 0.11%
techMARK (TASX) 3,447.36 0.14%

FTSE 100 - Risers

HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 578.40p 2.50%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 507.00p 2.49%
Anglo American (AAL) 796.00p 2.08%
Glencore (GLEN) 176.95p 1.67%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 1,285.00p 1.58%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 60.19p 1.42%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 7,250.00p 1.40%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 163.30p 1.24%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 243.10p 1.17%
Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 1,337.00p 1.13%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

St James's Place (STJ) 972.50p -0.97%
Mondi (MNDI) 1,541.00p -0.52%
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 3,247.00p -0.43%
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 2,132.00p -0.37%
Provident Financial (PFG) 3,002.00p -0.13%
Intu Properties (INTU) 315.60p -0.13%
Merlin Entertainments (MERL) 479.60p -0.10%
Old Mutual (OML) 193.90p -0.10%
Worldpay Group (WI) (WPG) 298.50p -0.10%
Bunzl (BNZL) 2,356.00p -0.08%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Marshalls (MSLH) 323.30p 2.70%
Synthomer (SYNT) 371.80p 2.09%
Countryside Properties (CSP) 232.40p 1.93%
Dechra Pharmaceuticals (DPH) 1,325.00p 1.92%
Lancashire Holdings Limited (LRE) 642.50p 1.82%
Brown (N.) Group (BWNG) 207.60p 1.81%
Morgan Advanced Materials (MGAM) 290.70p 1.71%
JRP Group (JRP) 99.65p 1.68%
Crest Nicholson Holdings (CRST) 472.70p 1.63%
Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 173.90p 1.58%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Ascential (ASCL) 250.00p -5.66%
Stagecoach Group (SGC) 218.20p -4.13%
Hays (HAS) 127.20p -2.60%
Softcat (SCT) 322.10p -2.54%
McCarthy & Stone (MCS) 199.30p -2.45%
John Laing Group (JLG) 249.80p -1.85%
Hastings Group Holdings (HSTG) 217.20p -1.81%
Amec Foster Wheeler (AMFW) 531.50p -1.76%
Grafton Group Units (GFTU) 538.00p -1.74%
Halfords Group (HFD) 341.80p -1.70%