London open: Stocks edge lower despite M&A news

London stocks edged lower in early trade as investors sifted through corporate releases and considered the prospect of a US rate hike, although deal news failed to provide any sort of inspiration.

At 0830 GMT, the FTSE 100 was down 0.3% to 7,351.60.

Rebecca O'Keeffe, head of investment at stockbroker Interactive Investor, said: “Fed chair Janet Yellen confirmed that this week's US employment numbers are really the only factor that could possibly stand in the way of a March rate rise, so markets are in a wait and see mode and are likely to remain largely range bound until confirmation is delivered on Friday."

The non-farm payrolls report is due at the end of the week.

In corporate news, Standard Life and Aberdeen Asset Management surged after agreeing terms for an £11bn merger, having revealed talks over the weekend.

The deal will see Aberdeen shareholders own roughly a third of the enlarged company and Standard Life's the rest, though the two companies will initially have an equal number of seats on the board.

Budget airline easyJet flew higher after it reported an 8.2% rise in passenger numbers in February and said the load factor – which gauges how full the planes actually are – rose 1.6 percentage points to 92%.

BT Group nudged up after saying it would pay £1.18bn for the rights to broadcast all UEFA Champions League and Europa League football.

Informa was on the front foot after it posted its final results for the 12 months to 31 December, with revenue up 11% to £1.35bn during the year, and adjusted operating profit up 13.8% to £416.1m.

Ultra Electronics rallied as strong cash generation and order intake helped the company drive full-year bottom-line growth despite delays to a small number of export contracts. The defence electronics specialist saw full-year 2016 top-line growth of 8.2% to £785.58m, while underlying profits before tax increased 6.9% to £120.1m.

Challenger bank Shawbrook pushed higher after it announced late on Friday that its private equity backer Pollen Street and BC Partners had teamed up to propose taking it private less than two year after bringing it to market. Under the proposed terms, Shawbrook said its shareholders would receive 330p per ordinary share in cash plus any final dividend in respect of calendar 2016 as long as it is below 3p per share.

Acacia Mining was under the cosh after a downgrade by Jefferies, while Berendsen was hit by a downgrade from HSBC.

Overall, miners were the worst performers, likely weighed down by news over the weekend that China is now targeting growth of 6.5% this year, down a touch from last years’ growth rate of 6.7% and from the government’s target growth range of 6.5% to 7% in 2016.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,351.60 -0.31%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 18,896.31 0.07%
techMARK (TASX) 3,444.13 -0.06%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Standard Life (SL.) 410.30p 8.40%
easyJet (EZJ) 973.00p 1.73%
St James's Place (STJ) 1,095.00p 1.39%
Schroders (SDR) 3,096.00p 0.81%
Informa (INF) 678.00p 0.67%
Smurfit Kappa Group (SKG) 2,184.00p 0.65%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 547.00p 0.64%
GKN (GKN) 377.10p 0.59%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 332.70p 0.51%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 749.00p 0.44%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

WPP (WPP) 1,697.00p -3.52%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,251.00p -1.69%
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,391.00p -1.56%
Glencore (GLEN) 334.35p -1.15%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,305.50p -1.03%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 812.50p -0.91%
Pearson (PSON) 672.50p -0.88%
Mediclinic International (MDC) 739.50p -0.87%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,351.00p -0.84%
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 2,109.00p -0.80%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Aberdeen Asset Management (ADN) 308.00p 7.54%
Jupiter Fund Management (JUP) 438.40p 3.64%
Ultra Electronics Holdings (ULE) 2,039.00p 2.88%
Ashmore Group (ASHM) 370.10p 2.83%
Aldermore Group (ALD) 245.00p 2.51%
AO World (AO.) 150.60p 2.38%
Kennedy Wilson Europe Real Estate (KWE) 975.00p 1.88%
Synthomer (SYNT) 460.00p 1.59%
Man Group (EMG) 143.70p 1.55%
Allied Minds (ALM) 419.40p 1.38%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Acacia Mining (ACA) 437.00p -5.21%
Berendsen (BRSN) 790.00p -4.07%
Wetherspoon (J.D.) (JDW) 965.00p -2.48%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 876.50p -1.68%
Vesuvius (VSVS) 532.00p -1.66%
Brown (N.) Group (BWNG) 203.30p -1.60%
esure Group (ESUR) 211.70p -1.58%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 266.70p -1.48%
Hunting (HTG) 563.50p -1.40%
Countryside Properties (CSP) 226.90p -1.35%