London open: Stocks gain ahead of UK inflation data

London stocks rallied on Tuesday as oil prices gained and investors awaited the release of UK inflation figures.

Oil prices advanced after Goldman Sachs said the market had finished almost two years of oversupply and moved to a deficit following global production disruptions.

Brent crude rose 0.62% to $49.28 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate climbed 1.03% to $48.22 per barrel at 0851 BST.

UK inflation will be in focus at 0930 BST, with analysts expecting to see a slowdown further away from the Bank of England’s 2% target.

Economists expect the consumer price index eased to 0.3% month-on-month growth in April from 0.4% in March. On the year, CPI is estimated to remain at 0.5% increase.

Core inflation, which excludes volatile items such as fuel and food, is expected to slow to 1.4% year-on-year from 1.5%.

“Consumer price inflation is expected to have edged down in April as a consequence of an unwinding of significant price increases in March that were the consequence of the earlier Easter this year (in particular, air fares),” said Howard Archer, chief UK and European economist at IHS Global Insight.

“However, this is expected to have been partly countered by some upward pressure from increased petrol prices and also possibly a firming in food prices.”

US inflation is also due at 1330 BST. In contrast to the UK, CPI is expected to pick-up to 0.3% month-on-month growth in April from 0.1% in March. On a year-on-year basis CPI is forecast to rise 1.1% in April following a 0.9% increase a month earlier. The Federal Reserve is targeting 2% inflation and will be taking the data into consideration ahead of its next decision on interest rates in June.

Among corporate stocks, Vodafone shares gained after the company’s organic sales returned to growth and beat expectations in the full year after a strong performance in the fourth quarter, hiking the final dividend 2%.

Land Securities advanced after it posted what it described as “strong” preliminary results on Tuesday, with asset values, revenue and earnings all increasing in the 12 months to 31 March.

Healthcare company BTG jumped as it more than doubled full year pre-tax profits to £57.5m on the back of a 22% jump in revenues to £447.5m.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 6,205.69 0.88%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 16,805.70 0.64%
techMARK (TASX) 3,073.09 0.68%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Anglo American (AAL) 643.70p 5.61%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 194.80p 5.35%
Glencore (GLEN) 138.95p 4.00%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 871.50p 3.75%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 906.00p 3.37%
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 3,078.00p 3.12%
DCC (DCC) 6,330.00p 2.93%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 2,069.00p 2.83%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 436.50p 2.56%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 1,167.00p 2.46%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Mediclinic International (MDC) 824.50p -0.60%
Compass Group (CPG) 1,273.00p -0.55%
easyJet (EZJ) 1,435.00p -0.42%
Paddy Power Betfair (PPB) 8,975.00p -0.39%
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,145.00p -0.35%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 6,260.00p -0.32%
Bunzl (BNZL) 2,068.00p -0.19%
Admiral Group (ADM) 1,871.00p -0.11%
Imperial Brands (IMB) 3,772.00p -0.11%
Capita (CPI) 1,081.00p -0.09%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Lookers (LOOK) 141.10p 7.14%
Aggreko (AGK) 1,092.00p 5.92%
Evraz (EVR) 126.90p 4.79%
International Personal Finance (IPF) 254.90p 3.79%
AO World (AO.) 168.70p 3.50%
Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 985.00p 3.20%
Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 158.90p 3.18%
Sports Direct International (SPD) 381.60p 2.61%
Vesuvius (VSVS) 345.80p 2.49%
Morgan Advanced Materials (MGAM) 242.00p 2.37%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Halma (HLMA) 888.50p -3.27%
Greencore Group (GNC) 380.00p -1.68%
ICAP (IAP) 449.20p -1.01%
Ibstock (IBST) 210.00p -0.94%
Dairy Crest Group (DCG) 576.50p -0.86%
Just Eat (JE.) 405.00p -0.83%
TalkTalk Telecom Group (TALK) 254.90p -0.82%
TR Property Inv Trust (TRY) 289.00p -0.69%
IP Group (IPO) 154.80p -0.64%
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 2,290.00p -0.43%