London open: Stocks edge up ahead of Biden budget

London stocks edged higher in early trade on Friday as investors eyed the unveiling of US President Joe Biden’s spending plans, which are expected to be in the region of $6 trillion.

At 0915 BST, the FTSE 100 was up 0.4% at 7,044.50 in quiet trade, with a Bank Holiday weekend ahead and half term next week.

Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor, said: "Further signs that the US economy is beginning to run hot prompted another switch into value stocks, at the expense of growth.

"Jobless claims fell again to the lowest level since March of last year, while the annualised rate of economic growth was reported to be running at 6.4%. In addition, it is expected that President Biden will be seeking a new and significant further boost to fiscal spending ahead of the imminent White House budget announcement.

"In the meantime, inflationary nerves will be tested once more as the Commerce Department releases the PCE, or Personal Consumption Expenditures, index later today. The measure tends to be one which the Federal reserve monitors closely and is more influential in deciding Fed policy than the more obvious Consumer Price Index."

Hunter said inflationary concerns continue to bubble under the surface. "Although in abeyance for the moment, this could be short-lived as the economic data continues to point towards excess demand as growth kicks in, with supply struggling to keep pace."

In corporate news, housebuilder Vistry was boosted by an upgrade to ‘overweight’ from ‘equalweight’ at Barclays.

Pubs chains Wetherspoons and Mitchells & Butlers were both lower after Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Thursday that the lifting of all Covid restrictions on 21 June may be delayed due to the spread of the Indian variant.

AstraZeneca was also weaker despite saying that its Tagrisso cancer drug had been approved in the European Union after positive results from a phase 3 trial.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,044.50 0.35%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 22,725.49 0.29%
techMARK (TASX) 4,382.23 0.01%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Prudential (PRU) 1,536.00p 2.40%
HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 460.75p 2.34%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 170.65p 2.19%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 755.20p 2.16%
SSE (SSE) 1,555.00p 2.13%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 2,142.00p 2.10%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 173.10p 1.97%
Croda International (CRDA) 6,954.00p 1.93%
Persimmon (PSN) 3,141.00p 1.82%
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 3,089.00p 1.68%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,541.00p -2.41%
Polymetal International (POLY) 1,695.50p -1.80%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 5,186.00p -1.22%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 8,009.00p -1.12%
BT Group (BT.A) 174.75p -0.99%
Fresnillo (FRES) 904.00p -0.99%
Sage Group (SGE) 661.60p -0.81%
British Land Company (BLND) 504.00p -0.63%
Flutter Entertainment (CDI) (FLTR) 13,235.00p -0.53%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RKT) 6,347.00p -0.38%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Vistry Group (VTY) 1,314.50p 3.42%
Network International Holdings (NETW) 411.00p 2.78%
Direct Line Insurance Group (DLG) 300.40p 2.46%
AO World (AO.) 265.80p 1.92%
Big Yellow Group (BYG) 1,302.00p 1.88%
Virgin Money UK (VMUK) 212.90p 1.87%
4Imprint Group (FOUR) 2,865.00p 1.78%
Beazley (BEZ) 299.60p 1.77%
Redrow (RDW) 678.60p 1.74%
Trainline (TRN) 286.80p 1.70%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

C&C Group (CDI) (CCR) 240.40p -3.76%
Wetherspoon (J.D.) (JDW) 1,318.00p -2.66%
Watches of Switzerland Group (WOSG) 780.00p -2.50%
Dr. Martens (DOCS) 473.40p -2.35%
Sirius Real Estate Ltd. (SRE) 100.20p -2.15%
Greencore Group (CDI) (GNC) 142.10p -1.80%
Volution Group (FAN) 446.00p -1.76%
Softcat (SCT) 1,810.00p -1.52%
SSP Group (SSPG) 294.30p -1.41%
888 Holdings (888) 407.20p -1.31%