London open: Stocks edge higher as UK politics remain the focus

London stocks edged higher in early trade, with the pound still firmly in focus as the latest poll suggested the Tory lead over Labour was continuing to shrink.

At 0830 BST, the FTSE 100 was up 0.4% to 7,551.61, while the pound was down 0.1% against the dollar at 1.2863, off the lows hit in the previous session as investors digested Wednesday night's election debate, from which Theresa May was absent. According to a YouGov poll for The Times published on Wednesday, the Tory lead over Labour has narrowed to just three points. The latest poll came hot on the heels of a projection by YouGov that suggested the Conservatives could lose as many as 20 seats, while Labour could gain 28, leading to a hung Parliament.

Spreadex analyst Connor Campbell said: "While it looks like the election is going to dominate once again, the UK does have a bit of data to deal with this Thursday: May’s manufacturing PMI. Analysts are expecting the figure to fall from 57.3 to 56.5 month-on-month, a move that likely won’t help out sterling." Markit's manufacturing PMI is at 0930 BST.

Investors were also mulling over the latest survey from Nationwide, which showed UK house prices fell for the third month in a row in May, the first time this has happened since 2009.

As month-on-month prices fell 0.2% this dragged annual house price growth down to 2.1% in May from 2.6% in April.

The average price of a home slipped to £208,711 in May from £207,699 a month ago.

“It is still early days, but this provides further evidence that the housing market is losing momentum," said Robert Gardner, Nationwide's chief economist.

"Moreover, this may be indicative of a wider slowdown in the household sector, though data continues to send mixed signals in this regard."

On the corporate front, Barclays advanced as it increased the size of the sale of its stake in Barclays Africa Group due to "strong investor demand". The bank agreed to sell 286m or 33.7% of BAGL's issued share capital, raising around £2.2bn, up from a previous plan to sell a stake of around 22%.

Business-to-business information company Ascential nudged higher as it sold its remaining 11 UK-based heritage brands to Metropolis International for £23.5m in cash, which will be used to reduce its net debt.

Auto Trader pushed higher as Barclays upgraded the stock to 'overweight' from 'equalweight', while 3i was boosted as it upped its target price on the stock to 980p from 750p.

Going the other way, chemicals group Johnson Matthey was in the red after it posted a 12% jump in full-year revenue, with analysts pointing to disappointment that no special dividend was announced.

Passenger transport operator FirstGroup tanked after it reported a rise in revenue and profit for the year to the end of March, but highlighted continued economic uncertainty in the UK.

Polymetal was on the back foot as it increased its stake in the Dolinnoye gold property, acquiring another 25% interest for $1.6m, while Marks & Spencer and Shire retreated as their stock went ex-dividend.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,551.61 0.42%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,035.06 0.31%
techMARK (TASX) 3,641.68 0.46%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 885.50p 2.07%
3i Group (III) 913.50p 2.07%
Barclays (BARC) 214.10p 1.95%
Micro Focus International (MCRO) 2,435.00p 1.71%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 1,589.00p 1.47%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 5,303.00p 1.32%
Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 2,281.00p 1.24%
DCC (DCC) 7,465.00p 1.22%
CRH (CRH) 2,826.00p 1.22%
British Land Company (BLND) 641.50p 1.18%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 195.80p -3.59%
Mediclinic International (MDC) 779.50p -3.59%
National Grid (NG.) 1,059.00p -2.80%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 372.10p -2.72%
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 3,038.00p -2.38%
Shire Plc (SHP) 4,404.50p -1.50%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 7,305.00p -0.81%
BT Group (BT.A) 307.25p -0.74%
ITV (ITV) 194.40p -0.66%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,028.50p -0.29%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Auto Trader Group (AUTO) 443.80p 6.66%
Inmarsat (ISAT) 845.00p 5.63%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 187.20p 2.41%
Electrocomponents (ECM) 596.00p 1.62%
Allied Minds (ALM) 150.80p 1.62%
Sophos Group (SOPH) 458.90p 1.44%
Hays (HAS) 169.20p 1.38%
PayPoint (PAY) 958.00p 1.32%
Bellway (BWY) 2,862.00p 1.27%
Big Yellow Group (BYG) 798.50p 1.27%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

FirstGroup (FGP) 140.50p -6.21%
Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 359.80p -5.32%
Aldermore Group (ALD) 235.10p -3.49%
Acacia Mining (ACA) 282.10p -1.84%
Dechra Pharmaceuticals (DPH) 1,912.00p -1.65%
Just Group (JUST) 135.00p -1.46%
Fisher (James) & Sons (FSJ) 1,698.96p -1.45%
Debenhams (DEB) 49.41p -1.38%
IP Group (IPO) 137.10p -1.37%
Nostrum Oil & Gas (NOG) 524.50p -1.32%