London open: Stocks gain ahead of UK manufacturing data

London stocks rose in early trade on Monday, taking their cue from a positive session in Asia, as investors eyed the latest UK manufacturing reading.

At 0845 BST, the FTSE 100 was up 0.3% at 8,297.08.

Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "Positive vibes are powering the FTSE 100 higher, as fresh hopes swirl that interest rate cuts are not as far off as feared.

"Strong trading in Asia has laid the groundwork for an upbeat session, as investors take took cues from gains on Wall Street on Friday. Signs of weaker consumer spending patterns have lifted expectations that upwards price pressures could ease off and that the Fed may be less inclined to keep interest rates higher for longer.

"With lower borrowing costs spied on the horizon, it may start to give a little lift to oil prices, which are languishing around three-month lows. Brent Crude is trading around $81 dollars a barrel despite an agreement by OPEC+ to extend output cuts into 2025."

On the macro calendar, all eyes will be on the S&P Global CIPS manufacturing PMI for May, which is due out at 0930 BST.

On the corporate front, investors were mulling reports that online fashion giant Shein was edging closer to a London stock market flotation.

It was understood that Shein - which was founded in China and is headquartered in Singapore - is planning to file a confidential prospectus with regulators this month.

Elsewhere, JD Sports jumped to the top of the FTSE 100, having slumped on Friday after full-year results.

St James’s Place rallied after an upgrade to ‘overweight’ from ‘neutral’ at JPMorgan Cazenove, which cited an attractive valuation and reducing uncertainty.

"Whilst we believe that negative news is largely behind us, this has not been reflected in valuation, with St James’s Place trading at 7x FY25e," it said. "We expect that sentiment will improve given the resilience in gross flows, and we see upside to consensus net flow estimates."

Quilter was also in the black as JPM lifted the shares to ‘overweight’ from ‘neutral’, saying it was "looking beyond the redress".

Hipgnosis traded up after it agreed the terms of an improved cash offer from US private equity firm Blackstone, at $1.31 a share, up from $1.30.

Streeter said: "Although there may be a little disappointment that another suitor had not charged in with a much higher offer following the bidding war, the deal still marks a turn up for the books for investors. It follows a volatile run which saw shares sink to a low after the value of the fund’s music portfolio was slashed by more than 25%."

On the downside, GSK tumbled as the pharma giant said it would be appealing against a US court decision allowing jury trials in cases brought by cancer sufferers claiming its heartburn drug caused their condition.

A judge in the Delaware State Court ruled that scientific experts would be able to testify there is a link between the plaintiffs' illnesses and their exposure to probable human carcinogens, through the Zantac drug. GSK and other companies who marketed Zantac, including Boehringer Ingelheim and Sanofi dispute the claims.

Baltic Classifieds lost ground after Antler, which is controlled by funds advised by Apax, sold 40m shares in a placing.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 8,297.08 0.26%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,834.57 0.50%
techMARK (TASX) 4,828.59 -0.34%

FTSE 100 - Risers

JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 134.60p 5.57%
St James's Place (STJ) 525.00p 5.08%
CRH (CDI) (CRH) 6,380.00p 4.28%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 463.60p 2.25%
Centrica (CNA) 144.60p 2.15%
NATWEST GROUP (NWG) 321.50p 2.06%
Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 2,702.00p 2.04%
Legal & General Group (LGEN) 254.90p 1.96%
easyJet (EZJ) 468.20p 1.78%
Pershing Square Holdings Ltd NPV (PSH) 4,150.00p 1.77%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

GSK (GSK) 1,593.00p -9.82%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 367.30p -1.69%
Anglo American (AAL) 2,474.50p -1.55%
Glencore (GLEN) 476.65p -0.85%
Smith & Nephew (SN.) 983.20p -0.73%
Haleon (HLN) 323.20p -0.58%
Fresnillo (FRES) 616.00p -0.56%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 1,010.50p -0.54%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 612.80p -0.49%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 12,144.00p -0.38%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Quilter (QLT) 123.70p 5.01%
Volution Group (FAN) 471.50p 4.55%
Pets at Home Group (PETS) 307.20p 3.71%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 42.90p 3.25%
JTC (JTC) 929.00p 3.11%
Currys (CURY) 79.85p 3.03%
Bakkavor Group (BAKK) 143.50p 2.50%
Wood Group (John) (WG.) 181.00p 2.32%
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 148.50p 2.27%
Tyman (TYMN) 372.00p 2.20%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Baltic Classifieds Group (BCG) 251.00p -2.14%
Me Group International (MEGP) 179.20p -1.97%
Sirius Real Estate Ltd. (SRE) 95.85p -1.69%
PZ Cussons (PZC) 108.60p -1.63%
Pagegroup (PAGE) 451.00p -1.44%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 184.00p -1.39%
Foresight Solar Fund Limited (FSFL) 86.60p -1.25%
Pennon Group (PNN) 615.00p -1.13%
Tritax Eurobox (GBP) (EBOX) 53.20p -1.12%
Ruffer Investment Company Ltd Red PTG Pref Shares (RICA) 271.50p -1.09%