London open: Stocks in the black as investors eye Autumn Statement

Stocks in London rose in early trade, taking their cue from an upbeat session in the US, where the Dow closed above 19,000 for the first time ever, as investors eyed the Autumn Statement.

At 0825 GMT, the FTSE 100 was up 0.8% to 6,870.80.

Meanwhile, oil prices were just a touch higher following a choppy session on Tuesday. West Texas Intermediate and Brent crude were up 0.2% to $48.12 a barrel and $49.21, respectively. Prices had risen sharply in the previous session amid growing expectations that OPEC members and non-OPEC Russia would agree a production cut at next week’s meeting.

However, they came off following a Bloomberg report that Iran, Iraq and Indonesia had reservations regarding a proposed 4.5% production cut by all members except Libya and Nigeria.

In currency markets, the pound was down 0.1% versus the dollar at 1.2409.

FXTM research Analyst Lukman Otunuga said: "With the the sensitive Brexit situation still a dominant theme in the markets, today’s Autumn Statement could provide a unique touch. If the economic forecasts for next year highlight the Brexit impacts and paint a gloomy picture, then Sterling could be exposed to further downside risks. On the other hand, an aggressive outlook pointing to a stronger economic recovery may recreate another mystery move on sterling similar to Monday’s sharp upsurge.”

The Autumn Statement is at 1230 GMT.

Societe Generale said: “The resilient economic data after the initial shock of the Brexit vote have dampened expectations of a major fiscal stimulus. We expect the boost to be limited to infrastructure spending of no more than 1% of GDP on a cumulated basis. The deficit path will be revised up significantly which will force him to impose further austerity but only in the context of new more flexible fiscal rules which will enable him to delay those cuts until the early 2020s.”

In corporate news, United Utilities rose as it reported a small jump in underlying first-half profit and lifted its interim dividend.

Property investor Hammerson edged higher after agreeing to buy four outlet centres in Europe worth a combined €587m (£502m), in order to expand in the territory.

GlaxoSmithKline gained as it said its mepolizumab medicine met Phase 3 trial endpoints.

Thomas Cook surged. Although the travel company posted a drop in revenue and profit for the year to the end of September, the figures came in ahead of expectations.

Softcat nudged up after saying it has seen a good start in the first quarter but that it expects operating profit for the year to be weighted towards the second half.

On the downside, CMC Markets was in the red as it reported a slump in revenue and profits for the first half.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 6,854.57 0.51%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 17,749.22 0.40%
techMARK (TASX) 3,297.92 0.49%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Fresnillo (FRES) 1,318.00p 2.81%
Wolseley (WOS) 4,743.00p 2.64%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 5,945.00p 2.24%
Micro Focus International (MCRO) 2,141.00p 1.90%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,359.00p 1.87%
Glencore (GLEN) 287.70p 1.86%
Compass Group (CPG) 1,349.00p 1.73%
Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 1,243.00p 1.55%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,120.00p 1.53%
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 3,290.00p 1.48%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 204.60p -1.54%
Babcock International Group (BAB) 938.00p -0.74%
Tesco (TSCO) 217.55p -0.53%
Barclays (BARC) 211.30p -0.49%
Vodafone Group (VOD) 202.05p -0.49%
Whitbread (WTB) 3,494.00p -0.40%
Admiral Group (ADM) 1,963.00p -0.20%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 644.20p -0.19%
BT Group (BT.A) 365.90p -0.15%
London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) 2,843.00p -0.14%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Hunting (HTG) 535.50p 5.52%
Thomas Cook Group (TCG) 77.00p 4.69%
Evraz (EVR) 274.80p 4.57%
Vectura Group (VEC) 152.00p 3.90%
Acacia Mining (ACA) 423.10p 3.75%
Rotork (ROR) 234.10p 3.31%
Ascential (ASCL) 286.20p 3.10%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 877.00p 2.87%
Paragon Group Of Companies (PAG) 371.80p 2.71%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 136.00p 2.64%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Countrywide (CWD) 193.50p -5.43%
CMC Markets (CMCX) 196.40p -3.30%
Savills (SVS) 675.00p -1.60%
Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 995.00p -1.49%
Mitie Group (MTO) 198.60p -1.19%
Softcat (SCT) 300.90p -1.05%
SIG (SHI) 93.10p -0.96%
Pets at Home Group (PETS) 228.40p -0.95%
Redefine International (RDI) 37.00p -0.94%
PayPoint (PAY) 1,070.00p -0.93%