London open: Stocks gain after FOMC minutes

UK stocks on Thursday tracked gains in the US after minutes from the Federal Reserve’s latest policy meeting showed several policymakers argued against an interest rate hike in April.

Members of the Federal Open Market Committee were concerned about the threat of slower global growth and low inflation when they voted to keep interest rates unchanged last month, the minutes of the central bank's March 15-16 meeting revealed.

Several also cautioned against an increase in April, saying it would signal a sense of urgency about the US economy that they did not think appropriate.

However, some other participants indicated that a hike at the next meeting "might well be warranted if the incoming economic data remained consistent with their expectations for moderate growth in output, further strengthening of the labour market, and inflation rising to 2% over the medium term", according to the minutes.

“Last night, the FOMC minutes were enough to push US markets higher once again as the dollar dropped,” said Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at Ava Trade. “What many expected or wanted to see did come out in these minutes, but the matter of concern is that Fed members failed to show a solid front and came out looking fragmented. “

Turning to Thursday’s agenda, the European Central Bank will release its account of the 10 March policy meeting when the central bank announced a raft of new measures including the expansion of its asset purchase programme and cuts to interest rates, the deposit facility rate and the marginal lending facility rate.

“Even though it has been four weeks since the ECB announced its cocktail of rate cuts, additional asset purchases and ultra-cheap bank funding, it remains interesting to see how the discussion within the Governing Council evolved,” Rabobank said.

Closer to home, Halifax revealed UK house prices rose 2.6% month-on-month in March, as second home owners and buy-to-let investors rushed in to purchase homes ahead of higher stamp duty charges in April. It compared to a 1.5% drop in February and beat analysts’ forecasts of 0.9%.

Elsewhere, Chinese stocks declined on concerns that a three-month ban on large shareholders selling more than 1% of a company’s total shares is about to expire. Worries that it will prompt a barrage of selling pressuring the overall market weighed on Chinese equities.

Meanwhile, oil prices continued to rise following bullish comments from OPEC member Kuwait and an unexpected decline US crude inventories. Brent crude climbed 0.07% to $39.86 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate increased 0.13% to $37.80 per barrel at 0909 BST.

Among corporate stocks, Marks & Spencer’s shares rallied after the retailer reported fourth quarter sales that exceeded analysts’ estimates as sales at the troubled general merchandise unit fell less than anticipated.

Shire gained after saying it expected its $32bn (£22.6bn) merger with Baxalta to go ahead despite new US tax rules stopping the $160bn deal between Pfizer and Allergan.

Victrex, which specialises in high performance polymer solutions, declined after it reported a drop in first half revenue.

Dunelm jumped after the home furnishings retailer reported total revenue for the third quarter increased 5.9%.

Gold miner Centamin advanced as it said first quarter production from its Sukari operation in Egypt rose 6.5% compared with the previous period to 125,268 ounces.

Education giant Pearson slumped as its shares went ex-dividend.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 6,174.31 0.21%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 16,863.38 -0.02%
techMARK (TASX) 3,160.41 0.53%

FTSE 100 - Risers

BHP Billiton (BLT) 748.40p 2.14%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 4,207.50p 1.94%
Anglo American (AAL) 531.20p 1.67%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 283.90p 1.50%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 426.70p 1.50%
ARM Holdings (ARM) 1,042.00p 1.26%
Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 1,687.50p 1.14%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 940.00p 1.13%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 843.50p 1.08%
TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 1,056.00p 1.05%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Pearson (PSON) 812.00p -6.45%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 66.05p -2.98%
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 3,218.00p -2.96%
Worldpay Group (WI) (WPG) 274.80p -2.83%
Aviva (AV.) 429.50p -2.83%
Rexam (REX) 622.50p -1.97%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,273.00p -1.39%
St James's Place (STJ) 892.00p -1.38%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 191.10p -1.34%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 563.50p -1.31%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Dunelm Group (DNLM) 957.00p 5.16%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 94.50p 4.36%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 202.60p 3.31%
Ophir Energy (OPHR) 79.55p 3.18%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 342.50p 3.13%
Just Eat (JE.) 390.50p 2.82%
Indivior (INDV) 171.00p 2.52%
Allied Minds (ALM) 433.90p 2.09%
NMC Health (NMC) 1,099.00p 1.95%
Evraz (EVR) 90.55p 1.74%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 152.00p -4.94%
Vesuvius (VSVS) 299.50p -4.50%
Rotork (ROR) 160.20p -3.32%
International Personal Finance (IPF) 271.60p -3.21%
BBA Aviation (BBA) 193.20p -2.77%
Zoopla Property Group (WI) (ZPLA) 254.00p -2.46%
Fidessa Group (FDSA) 2,362.00p -2.40%
Phoenix Group Holdings (DI) (PHNX) 913.50p -2.19%
Ultra Electronics Holdings (ULE) 1,756.00p -2.17%
Morgan Advanced Materials (MGAM) 208.40p -1.98%