London open: Stocks gain as PBoC increases reference rate

London stocks gained on Friday morning as China’s central bank increased the reference rate for the first time since implementing a new fixing policy.

The People’s Bank of China raised the value of the yuan against the dollar by 0.05% after three days in a series of devaluations.

The move came as the Bank tried to soothe the market by promising to work towards a stable currency following a surprise devaluation of almost 2% on Tuesday.

On a positive note for the market, the Greek parliament has approved a draft third bailout of about €85bn (£61bn) after a marathon all-night session, with the government aided by votes from opposition parties and likely to call a confidence vote due to internal divisions.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras had urged his fellow members of parliament to vote 'yes' and survived despite up to 42 rebel votes or abstentions from his Syriza party's MPs, including a 'no' vote from former finance minister Yannis Varoufakis.

The proposed deal involves tax rises and spending cuts, with negotiators having on Tuesday agreed a budget with a primary deficit of 0.25% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2015, improving to a 0.5% surplus in 2016, 1.75% in 2017 and a 3.15% surplus in 2018.

In other European news, the German economy expanded in the second quarter as exports rose, according to data released by Destatis. Gross domestic product rose 0.4% from the previous quarter, falling a little short of expectations for 0.5% growth.

The report comes ahead of Eurozone GDP data at 1000 BST which is expected to show a 1.3% year-on-year rise in the second quarter, compared to the previous three month’s 1% gain.

A final reading of the consumer price index out at the same time is forecast to reveal 0.2% growth in the year to July. While it has remained well below the ECB’s target of just under 2% growth, it has risen since January when it contracted 0.6%.

In its account of the governing council meeting in mid-July, released on Thursday, the ECB said the Eurozone is finally seeing a pick-up in inflation. Policymakers pointed to a “growing number of indications that a turning point [on inflation] might well have been reached”.

On the corporate front, Glencore declined after the miner confirmed it has completed the sale of the Tampakan copper project in the Philippines as it sells off assets amid a challenging market.

Vodafone climbed after the company and fellow mobile network Three bought a sizeable piece of UK mobile phone spectrum in an auction of L-band frequency by US-based Qualcomm.

A measure of oil stocks were lower including BP and Royal Dutch Shell as oil prices declined with Brent crude down 0.06% to $48.19 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate falling 0.42% to $42.05 at 0911 BST.

Market Movers

techMARK 3,190.03 +0.47%

FTSE 100 6,585.92 +0.27%

FTSE 250 17,673.06 +0.44%

FTSE 100 - Risers

TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 1,147.00p +2.96%

ARM Holdings (ARM) 938.50p +2.18%

Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 2,382.00p +1.75%

International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 546.00p +1.58%

ITV (ITV) 262.90p +1.54%

St James's Place (STJ) 975.50p +1.40%

Sage Group (SGE) 525.00p +1.35%

Tesco (TSCO) 204.40p +1.19%

Sky (SKY) 1,091.00p +1.11%

London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) 2,639.00p +1.07%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Glencore (GLEN) 175.10p -0.96%

Weir Group (WEIR) 1,473.00p -0.87%

BP (BP.) 380.25p -0.76%

Dixons Carphone (DC.) 447.80p -0.71%

Standard Chartered (STAN) 864.80p -0.61%

Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 1,826.00p -0.41%

Royal Dutch Shell 'A' (RDSA) 1,814.50p -0.38%

BG Group (BG.) 1,076.50p -0.32%

G4S (GFS) 254.70p -0.27%

Smiths Group (SMIN) 1,199.00p -0.17%

FTSE 250 - Risers

CLS Holdings (CLI) 1,884.00p +2.67%

Daejan Holdings (DJAN) 6,550.00p +2.26%

Foxtons Group (FOXT) 242.60p +2.15%

Allied Minds (ALM) 490.00p +2.08%

Betfair Group (BET) 2,851.00p +1.79%

Pets at Home Group (PETS) 278.20p +1.76%

Entertainment One Limited (ETO) 331.70p +1.75%

Derwent London (DLN) 3,756.00p +1.65%

Jupiter Fund Management (JUP) 458.70p +1.59%

Zoopla Property Group (WI) (ZPLA) 280.50p +1.59%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Cranswick (CWK) 1,630.00p -1.57%

Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 1,856.00p -1.38%

Wood Group (John) (WG.) 587.00p -1.26%

Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 836.50p -1.24%

Rank Group (RNK) 249.70p -1.19%

Ophir Energy (OPHR) 110.50p -1.16%

Redefine International (RDI) 53.05p -1.12%

Premier Oil (PMO) 108.90p -1.09%

Templeton Emerging Markets Inv Trust (TEM) 435.90p -1.04%

Tritax Big Box Reit (BBOX) 117.60p -1.01%

FTSE TechMARK - Risers

NCC Group (NCC) 247.00p +3.24%

Filtronic (FTC) 10.00p +2.56%

SDL (SDL) 393.00p +0.77%

KCOM Group (KCOM) 94.75p +0.53%

Oxford Instruments (OXIG) 928.50p +0.38%

Dialight (DIA) 554.00p +0.18%

IShares Euro Gov Bond 7-10YR UCITS ETF (IEGM) € 201.62 +0.07%

Consort Medical (CSRT) 938.50p +0.05%

FTSE TechMARK - Fallers

Oxford Biomedica (OXB) 8.25p -3.51%

Innovation Group (TIG) 33.75p -0.74%

Triad Group (TRD) 35.00p -0.71%

Skyepharma (SKP) 273.00p -0.46%

Spirent Communications (SPT) 80.00p -0.31%