London open: Stocks edge up ahead of PMIs

London stocks edged higher in early trade on Thursday as investors awaited the latest readings on the UK manufacturing and services sectors and a summit on the Ukraine crisis.

At 0855 GMT, the FTSE 100 was up 0.3% at 7,482.28.

Susannah Streeter, senior investment and markets analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "Traders are on tenterhooks ahead of a meeting of G7 leaders and a NATO summit, with expectation that the military response will be beefed up through fresh weapons supply to Ukraine and that sanctions will also be tightened.

"But splits remain over deploying a serious blow to Moscow’s economic resilience by bringing in a European embargo to energy supplies, although an offer of more liquefied natural gas from the US would ease the transition away from reliance on Russia.

"In the UK concerns stay elevated about the knock-on effect that soaring commodity prices will have on business resilience and consumer confidence, after the government’s fiscal plan was criticised for not offering enough medicine to ease the financial pain of higher prices. The small steps taken are individually welcome but together they don’t ease do much to ease the increasing burden of the cost of living and cost of commerce crises.

"Investors will be keeping a keen eye on the closely watched PMI numbers coming out this morning, giving a snapshot of activity in the private sector after a marked improvement in February as global supply issues eased. The worry is that these problems have ratcheted up again in recent weeks, although the effect of the easing of Covid restrictions across the economy should provide some support."

Markit’s services and manufacturing PMIs for March are due at 0930 GMT.

In equity markets, gambling software maker Playtech was a high riser after it reported a jump in annual profits as it continued to talk to a group of Asia-based investors about a takeover after the collapse of Aristocrat Leisure’s bid earlier this year.

Bridgepoint rallied after well-received results, while Games Workshop was trading higher after an update.

On the downside, Next slumped after it reduced its profit guidance and predicted selling prices would rise by 8% in the second half of the year, as the fashion retailer reported a more than doubling of annual profit.

XP Power tumbled after saying it may have to cough up $40m in damages after US-based Comet won a trade secret misappropriation lawsuit against the London-listed critical power solutions developer. It didn’t help that the stock was trading without entitlement to the dividend.

Schroders, Pearson, Prudential, Ferguson, Greggs and Close Brothers were also ex-dividend.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,482.28 0.29%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,970.40 -0.15%
techMARK (TASX) 4,327.12 -0.09%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Ocado Group (OCDO) 1,153.50p 2.62%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 1,066.00p 2.01%
Fresnillo (FRES) 739.40p 1.85%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,680.00p 1.82%
Rightmove (RMV) 663.80p 1.69%
Imperial Brands (IMB) 1,624.00p 1.37%
Severn Trent (SVT) 2,913.00p 1.36%
Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 1,653.50p 1.35%
SSE (SSE) 1,691.00p 1.26%
Diageo (DGE) 3,791.50p 1.21%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Schroders (SDR) 3,141.00p -3.41%
Next (NXT) 6,180.00p -3.20%
Glencore (GLEN) 494.95p -3.18%
Pearson (PSON) 761.80p -2.28%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 137.16p -1.18%
Anglo American (AAL) 3,894.00p -0.82%
Endeavour Mining (EDV) 1,885.00p -0.79%
Informa (INF) 584.40p -0.75%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 508.20p -0.74%
Halma (HLMA) 2,486.00p -0.68%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Bridgepoint Group (Reg S) (BPT) 323.50p 11.74%
Polymetal International (POLY) 152.00p 10.55%
Games Workshop Group (GAW) 7,590.00p 6.60%
Petershill Partners (PHLL) 255.50p 3.44%
Homeserve (HSV) 724.50p 2.99%
Playtech (PTEC) 622.00p 2.22%
Energean (ENOG) 1,153.00p 1.86%
Safestore Holdings (SAFE) 1,285.00p 1.66%
Standard Life Private Equity Trust (SLPE) 536.00p 1.52%
Smithson Investment Trust (SSON) 1,614.00p 1.51%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

XP Power Ltd. (DI) (XPP) 3,335.00p -8.38%
OSB Group (OSB) 541.50p -3.48%
Trustpilot Group (TRST) 138.00p -3.43%
SDCL Energy Efficiency Income Trust (SEIT) 117.00p -3.31%
Edinburgh Worldwide Inv Trust (EWI) 215.50p -2.71%
Contour Global (GLO) 190.40p -2.46%
CLS Holdings (CLI) 202.50p -2.41%
Investec (INVP) 472.70p -1.97%
Helios Towers (HTWS) 116.00p -1.86%
4Imprint Group (FOUR) 2,815.00p -1.75%