London open: Stocks fall ahead of ECB policy announcement

London stocks fell in early trade on Thursday following downbeat US and Asian sessions, as investors eyed the latest policy announcement from the European Central Bank.

At 0830 BST, the FTSE 100 was down 0.8% at 7,035.87.

Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote, said: "The European Central Bank is expected to maintain its rates unchanged at today’s meeting, and at many more meetings to come, but they are expected to start talking about tapering their bond purchases.

"And the potential taper talk doesn’t necessarily please investors, as the Covid situation remains uncertain and European businesses need the ECB’s support to go through what might be another dark winter."

The ECB rate announcement is due at 1245 BST.

In equity markets, budget airline easyJet slid as it said it would raise £1.2bn from shareholders in a rights issue to strengthen its balance sheet after turning down a preliminary takeover approach.

Spire Healthcare was weaker even as the private hospital group said it expected annual revenue to be "materially ahead" of 2019 as it swung to a half-year profit despite higher costs due to the pandemic.

Gambling company 888 Holdings was in the red after agreeing to buy the non-US international business of William Hill from Caesars Entertainment for £2.2bn.

Animal genetics company Genus tumbled after it reported a jump in full-year profit and revenue as it continued to win new customers, with growth in both of its business, but warned that recent volatility in the Chinese porcine market will dent growth.

Elsewhere, Melrose Industries and Oxford Instruments were both lower as they traded without entitlement to the dividend.

On the upside, Morrisons ticked a little higher after it stuck to its full-year guidance as the supermarket chain reported a 37% drop in first-half profit before exceptional items.

Computacenter was also a touch firmer after it posted a jump in interim profit but cautioned that shortages of electric components were set to last until "well into" 2022.

ConvaTec was boosted by an upgrade to 'overweight' from 'neutral' at JPMorgan.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,035.87 -0.84%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 23,714.01 -0.57%
techMARK (TASX) 4,711.64 -0.98%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Intertek Group (ITRK) 5,340.00p 0.49%
Pearson (PSON) 763.60p 0.45%
Fresnillo (FRES) 851.40p 0.19%
B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 578.60p 0.10%
Smith (DS) (SMDS) 452.20p 0.00%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,397.00p -0.07%
SEGRO (SGRO) 1,269.50p -0.08%
Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 1,383.00p -0.11%
Evraz (EVR) 590.20p -0.14%
Rightmove (RMV) 736.80p -0.24%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 147.94p -3.37%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 179.45p -2.63%
Prudential (PRU) 1,491.00p -2.61%
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 4,465.00p -1.93%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 109.16p -1.89%
Pershing Square Holdings Ltd NPV (PSH) 2,480.00p -1.78%
Polymetal International (POLY) 1,409.50p -1.78%
Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 2,550.00p -1.73%
Whitbread (WTB) 3,198.00p -1.63%
Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 1,456.50p -1.62%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Grainger (GRI) 325.40p 1.69%
Murray International Trust (MYI) 1,144.00p 1.60%
ICG Enterprise Trust (ICGT) 1,192.00p 1.36%
TR Property Inv Trust (TRY) 491.50p 1.34%
XP Power Ltd. (DI) (XPP) 5,360.00p 1.32%
Hays (HAS) 167.00p 1.27%
LXI Reit (LXI) 147.20p 1.24%
Convatec Group (CTEC) 225.00p 1.21%
Apax Global Alpha Limited (APAX) 218.00p 0.93%
AVI Global Trust (AGT) 1,008.00p 0.90%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Genus (GNS) 5,370.00p -8.98%
easyJet (EZJ) 734.60p -6.89%
Virgin Money UK (VMUK) 192.15p -3.15%
Rank Group (RNK) 166.40p -2.69%
Restaurant Group (RTN) 120.00p -2.44%
Cineworld Group (CINE) 64.30p -2.34%
Oxford Biomedica (OXB) 1,442.00p -2.30%
BBGI Global Infrastructure S.A. NPV (DI) (BBGI) 171.40p -2.28%
Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 4,862.00p -2.27%
TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 297.20p -2.24%