London open: Stocks edge up ahead of BoE announcement

London stocks edged higher in early trade on Thursday as investors waded through earnings news ahead of the latest policy announcement from the Bank of England.

At 0845 GMT, the FTSE 100 was up 0.2% at 7,265.13 amid expectations the BoE will raises rates in the face of rising inflation.

CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson said: "It is true a rate rise now would be a sharp change in policy from the last meeting in September, but it wouldn’t be the end of the world either.

"A rate increase of 0.15% to 0.25% could be argued as being entirely consistent with the recovery in the UK economy seen since the emergency measures were implemented back in March 2020, and while any decision is unlikely to be unanimous, we know of only two who would be more than likely to vote against a rise in rates, Tenreyro and Mann, given their recent comments on policy.

"One thing is certain it will probably be a split decision and likely to be decided by the odd vote, but more than anything if the UK economy can’t withstand a 0.15% rise in base rate, then we are in a very sorry state indeed."

In corporate news, BT rallied as it reported a fall in interim profits due to higher finance costs and partially offset by a rise in adjusted core earnings, but reaffirmed its outlook for 2022 and resumed dividend payments.

JD Sports also gained even as the Competition and Markets Authority ordered it to sell Footasylum after an in-depth investigation identified competition concerns.

Currys pushed higher after the electrical retailer announced a £75m share buyback as group organic sales jumped 15% from pre-pandemic 2019 levels on the back of continued demand for products such as laptops and video games during lockdowns.

Tate & Lyle was up after it reported a rise in first-half profit and revenue following a particularly strong performance in the food & beverage solutions business.

Luxury car maker Aston Martin advanced after it backed its full-year guidance and reported a jump in revenue and a narrowing of its losses amid strong demand for cars such as its DBX.

On the downside, Sainsbury's fell even as it stuck to its full-year guidance and reported a 23% increase in first-half profit, boosted by higher grocery sales and cost cuts.

TI Fluid Systems lost ground as it posted a drop in third-quarter revenues amid chip shortages and supply chain issues.

Ashmore was also in the red as it traded without entitlement to the dividend,.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,265.13 0.22%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 23,218.11 0.44%
techMARK (TASX) 4,585.64 0.14%

FTSE 100 - Risers

BT Group (BT.A) 147.40p 3.69%
Kingfisher (KGF) 341.80p 2.12%
Smurfit Kappa Group (CDI) (SKG) 3,912.00p 1.72%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 690.20p 1.71%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 1,776.50p 1.69%
Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,311.50p 1.47%
British Land Company (BLND) 500.60p 1.44%
Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 1,543.00p 1.41%
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 1,098.00p 1.39%
SEGRO (SGRO) 1,318.00p 1.38%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 280.70p -2.84%
Aveva Group (AVV) 3,460.00p -2.67%
Persimmon (PSN) 2,605.00p -2.25%
Darktrace (DARK) 590.00p -1.67%
Flutter Entertainment (CDI) (FLTR) 12,685.00p -1.48%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 151.30p -1.05%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 648.60p -0.76%
WPP (WPP) 1,059.00p -0.75%
Pearson (PSON) 603.20p -0.72%
CRH (CDI) (CRH) 3,633.00p -0.71%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Currys (CURY) 129.00p 5.56%
Tate & Lyle (TATE) 682.60p 5.18%
Baltic Classifieds Group (BCG) 218.00p 4.81%
IMI (IMI) 1,701.00p 4.42%
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 1,828.50p 4.37%
NCC Group (NCC) 240.00p 3.67%
Draper Esprit (GROW) 1,008.00p 2.86%
Electrocomponents (ECM) 1,167.00p 2.55%
Caledonia Investments (CLDN) 3,855.00p 2.39%
Allianz Technology Trust (ATT) 342.00p 2.24%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Virgin Money UK (VMUK) 185.00p -5.47%
Ashmore Group (ASHM) 326.80p -5.11%
Petropavlovsk (POG) 21.00p -3.93%
TI Fluid Systems (TIFS) 262.50p -2.60%
Tyman (TYMN) 375.00p -2.34%
Trainline (TRN) 294.00p -1.87%
Contour Global (GLO) 196.60p -1.70%
Energean (ENOG) 877.50p -1.63%
Hilton Food Group (HFG) 1,190.00p -1.49%
Ultra Electronics Holdings (ULE) 3,202.00p -1.42%