London open: Stocks in the black as investors eye central banks

Stocks in London rose in early trade, rebounding from losses on Friday as investors shifted their attention to upcoming central bank meetings.

At 0830 BST, the FTSE 100 was up 1.1% to 6,785.12.

At the same time, oil prices advanced. West Texas Intermediate was up 1.7% to $43.77 a barrel while Brent crude was 1.4% higher at $46.43.

Rebecca O’Keeffe, head of investment at stockbroker Interactive Investor, said: “After a torrid last week, investors will be pleased to see markets rebound this morning, with European equities on the rise ahead of the Bank of Japan and Federal Reserve decisions on Wednesday.

“With the expectation of no action in the US until at least December, the major market moving news is likely to be from Governor Haruhiko Kuroda - with investors hoping for significant intervention and forward guidance, including a further cut to rates.”

In corporate news, Workspace edged up after announcing that it has been granted planning permission for the redevelopment of Stratford Office Village, which was valued at £14m in March.

FTSE 250 Property developer Segro was also on the front after it sold its Heston and Airlinks industrial estate near Heathrow for £79.5m to Capital Industrial.

Sky was a high riser as Morgan Stanley upgraded the stock to ‘overweight’ from ‘equalweight’.

On the downside, outsourcer Mitie Group tumbled after it warned that full year profits would be materially lower than expected due to a drop-off in higher margin contracts in the first-half and the cost of new efficiency programmes.

HICL Infrastructure was weaker as it announced a proposal to raise £76m through an issue of ordinary shares.

On the data front, there are no major UK releases due but in the US, the NAHB housing market index is at 1500 BST.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 6,775.50 0.97%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 17,934.89 0.47%
techMARK (TASX) 3,515.17 0.58%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Glencore (GLEN) 189.90p 2.65%
Sky (SKY) 861.00p 2.50%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,010.00p 2.42%
Anglo American (AAL) 832.30p 2.20%
Tesco (TSCO) 172.85p 2.10%
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,647.00p 1.92%
HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 577.00p 1.82%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 7,490.00p 1.77%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 2,318.50p 1.71%
Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 215.20p 1.70%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Capita (CPI) 962.50p -0.93%
TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 1,066.00p -0.09%
SABMiller (SAB) 4,440.00p -0.00%
Shire Plc (SHP) 5,095.00p -0.00%
London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) 2,735.00p 0.00%
Informa (INF) 731.50p 0.00%
CRH (CRH) 2,486.00p 0.08%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 419.30p 0.10%
Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 1,687.00p 0.30%
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 3,254.00p 0.40%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Centamin (DI) (CEY) 140.30p 4.16%
Weir Group (WEIR) 1,565.00p 3.64%
Ascential (ASCL) 274.60p 2.58%
Kier Group (KIE) 1,294.00p 2.54%
Hunting (HTG) 429.80p 2.27%
JRP Group (JRP) 122.80p 2.25%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 259.40p 2.21%
Ibstock (IBST) 163.70p 2.18%
Go-Ahead Group (GOG) 2,081.00p 2.16%
Brown (N.) Group (BWNG) 196.60p 1.87%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Mitie Group (MTO) 202.20p -24.83%
Assura (AGR) 56.70p -2.16%
HICL Infrastructure Company Ltd (HICL) 176.60p -1.73%
IP Group (IPO) 189.10p -1.72%
CMC Markets (CMCX) 231.10p -1.66%
Hastings Group Holdings (HSTG) 227.90p -1.43%
Caledonia Investments (CLDN) 2,500.00p -1.22%
Pagegroup (PAGE) 336.90p -1.20%
Countryside Properties (CSP) 240.00p -1.11%
Big Yellow Group (BYG) 745.00p -1.06%