London open: Stocks gain as Unilever, Barclays results impress

London stocks rose in early trade on Thursday, helped along by well-received results from the likes of Unilever and Barclays, and a strong showing from Tesla after hours.

At 0825 BST, the FTSE 100 was up 0.4% at 8,292.73.

Derren Nathan, head of equity research at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "The FTSE 100 has opened up this morning on what’s set to be a busy day for corporate news on the London market.

"This will follow the worst day in six weeks for US stocks, where rising Treasury yields are pouring cold water on hopes of more aggressive rate cuts by the Fed. If today’s initial jobless claims come in much below consensus forecasts of 242,000, that could send a further signal to rate setters not to overdo it on the loosening front.

"Nvidia, Amazon, Apple and Microsoft, and Tesla all lost ground. However, the electric carmaker rebounded strongly in after-hours trading, after topping analyst estimates."

In UK equity markets, consumer goods giant Unilever rallied as it reported a jump in third-quarter underlying sales, underpinned by its power brands. Underlying sales grew 4.5%, coming in ahead of analysts’ expectations for 4.2% growth, with volume growth up 3.6%.

Barclays also gained as it nudged up its net interest income guidance for the full year and said it is on track to deliver against its short and medium-term targets. The bank said it expects 2024 net interest income excluding investment bank and head office activities from around £11bn to be "greater than £11bn".

Anglo American was in the black after a third-quarter production report, while Quilter was boosted by an initiation at ‘buy’ at Jefferies.

Bloomsbury Publishing, Indivior and Softcat also advanced after results.

On the downside, BAE Systems fell as it traded without entitlement to the dividend.

Travis Perkins was under the cosh as it cut its FY24 adjusted operating profit guidance to around £135m from £150m previously.

Dunelm lost ground even as the homeware retailer posted a 3.5% jump in third-quarter sales, driven by volume.

Abrdn also fell after saying it was hit by £3.1bn of outflows in the third quarter.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 8,292.73 0.41%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,873.10 0.21%
techMARK (TASX) 4,759.15 0.25%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Unilever (ULVR) 4,758.00p 2.26%
Barclays (BARC) 242.55p 1.85%
Anglo American (AAL) 2,359.00p 1.53%
Smurfit Westrock (DI) (SWR) 3,623.00p 1.37%
WPP (WPP) 829.20p 1.02%
London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) 10,490.00p 1.01%
BP (BP.) 406.70p 0.99%
Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,132.50p 0.85%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 62.14p 0.84%
BT Group (BT.A) 144.05p 0.80%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

BAE Systems (BA.) 1,306.00p -1.28%
Kingfisher (KGF) 307.40p -0.84%
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 133.75p -0.56%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 5,870.00p -0.51%
Bunzl (BNZL) 3,528.00p -0.51%
Schroders (SDR) 361.00p -0.50%
Rentokil Initial (RTO) 376.60p -0.48%
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 8,540.00p -0.44%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 559.00p -0.43%
Prudential (PRU) 653.60p -0.43%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Bloomsbury Publishing (BMY) 726.00p 6.45%
Indivior (INDV) 695.50p 6.43%
Softcat (SCT) 1,619.00p 5.68%
Senior (SNR) 139.20p 4.82%
Harworth Group (HWG) 185.00p 3.93%
Supermarket Income Reit (SUPR) 74.30p 3.48%
Bytes Technology Group (BYIT) 492.80p 2.67%
Morgan Advanced Materials (MGAM) 264.50p 2.52%
Serco Group (SRP) 183.50p 2.51%
OSB Group (OSB) 380.60p 2.26%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Dunelm Group (DNLM) 1,151.00p -3.52%
Dr. Martens (DOCS) 53.50p -2.46%
Abrdn (ABDN) 160.20p -2.29%
TP Icap Group (TCAP) 229.00p -2.14%
Sequoia Economic Infrastructure Income Fund Limited (SEQI) 77.70p -2.02%
Bellway (BWY) 3,072.00p -1.79%
QinetiQ Group (QQ.) 455.00p -1.60%
Grafton Group Ut (CDI) (GFTU) 1,012.00p -1.56%
WH Smith (SMWH) 1,380.00p -1.43%
Me Group International (MEGP) 208.00p -1.42%