London open: Stocks in the red as pound gains ground against dollar
London stocks fell on the first day of trading since Donald Trump took office, while the pound gained ground against the dollar.
At 0825 GMT, the FTSE 100 was down 0.9% to 7,136.59. Meanwhile, oil prices edged lower, with West Texas Intermediate down 0.6% to $52.90 a barrel and Brent crude off 0.5% to $55.20.
Spreadex’s Connor Campbell said: “The pound broke through the $1.24 ceiling this morning, climbing more than half a percent against the dollar to hit a one month high.
“Though Theresa May’s pair of speeches last week has helped sterling by somewhat clarifying Britain’s Brexit position, given that the currency is only up 0.2% against the euro it seems that Monday’s cable gains are more a case of dollar weakness than pound strength. The greenback, which also shed 0.4% against the euro and 0.8% against the Japanese yen, seems to have been shaken both by the apocalyptic tone set by Trump at his inauguration, and the global protests that greeted the former Apprentice host’s ascension to the highest office in the land.”
In corporate news, Paddy Power Betfair was in the red after saying it would not hit its top-end targets after Donald Trump's unexpected US election win and several other punter-friendly sporting results at the end of the year cost it around £40m. However, the FTSE 100 group said it still expected to make underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation around the mid-point of its November guidance of £390-405m.
Essentra, a maker of cigarette filters and plastic packaging, tumbled after it warned that it expects profit to be below expectations to a due to a more challenging than previously anticipated Health & Personal Care Packaging unit, which has been experiencing operational issues.
Computacenter was weaker after it said adjusted pre-tax full-year results are anticipated to be in line with its expectations, as it reported a rise in group revenue for the year to the end of December.
Insurer Admiral was lower as Deutsche Bank cut its stance on the stock to ‘sell’.
On the upside, housebuilder Bovis Homes rallied following a Sunday Times report that one of its larger shareholders has suggested Berkeley Group mount a bid for the company.
Petra Diamonds rose after it reported a production increase of 24% to 2,015,087 carats in the six months to the end of December and said it remains on track to deliver full year production of between 4.4 and 4.6 million carats.
Hochschild Mining was also on the front foot as it reached an agreement with a local community at its Pallancata mine in Peru to allow the silver and gold mine to reopen this week.
There are no major UK data releases due.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,136.59 -0.86%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 18,087.05 -0.35%
techMARK (TASX) 3,321.12 -0.66%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Antofagasta (ANTO) 790.00p 3.67%
Capita (CPI) 530.50p 3.31%
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,434.00p 2.28%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 6,840.00p 1.86%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,305.00p 1.20%
easyJet (EZJ) 1,047.00p 0.29%
British Land Company (BLND) 591.50p 0.17%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 495.20p 0.12%
Glencore (GLEN) 318.70p 0.11%
Intu Properties (INTU) 271.50p 0.07%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Admiral Group (ADM) 1,683.00p -2.89%
Paddy Power Betfair (PPB) 8,475.00p -2.31%
Royal Mail (RMG) 406.00p -1.93%
Barclays (BARC) 223.50p -1.72%
Unilever (ULVR) 3,306.50p -1.62%
Pearson (PSON) 580.00p -1.53%
HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 668.50p -1.46%
3i Group (III) 698.00p -1.41%
Schroders (SDR) 2,946.00p -1.37%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 742.70p -1.35%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 241.90p 7.13%
Bovis Homes Group (BVS) 825.00p 3.51%
SSP Group (SSPG) 401.40p 2.66%
Redefine International (RDI) 40.34p 2.18%
Morgan Advanced Materials (MGAM) 306.60p 2.17%
Petra Diamonds Ltd.(DI) (PDL) 159.30p 1.98%
Capital & Counties Properties (CAPC) 274.80p 1.97%
Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group (JLT) 1,020.00p 1.90%
Computacenter (CCC) 804.50p 1.84%
Acacia Mining (ACA) 419.60p 1.65%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Essentra (ESNT) 389.50p -12.02%
Jupiter Fund Management (JUP) 390.90p -3.00%
Brewin Dolphin Holdings (BRW) 300.00p -2.60%
Inmarsat (ISAT) 640.50p -2.36%
JRP Group (JRP) 138.80p -2.32%
Aberdeen Asset Management (ADN) 258.90p -2.12%
Homeserve (HSV) 590.00p -2.07%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 256.50p -2.06%
Henderson Group (HGG) 235.10p -1.88%
Hastings Group Holdings (HSTG) 227.40p -1.69%