London open: Stocks little changed ahead of BoE, ECB announcements

London stocks were little changed in early trade on Thursday as investors eyed policy announcements from the Bank of England and European Central Bank.

At 0830 GMT, the FTSE 100 was up just 0.1% at 7,591.43.

Victoria Scholar, head of investment at Interactive Investor, said: "The Bank of England is widely expected to raise rates for the second time since the start of the pandemic. This is the first time since 2004 that the central bank has opted to lift interest rates at two consecutive monetary policy committee meetings, landing the base rate at 0.5%.

"Amid the backdrop of heightened inflation, the central bank has no choice but to tighten monetary policy in an attempt to curb rising price levels. The MPC has a difficult balance to strike, curtailing price pressures without inducing an economic recession. While higher interest rates will take some of the heat out of the economy, it will do little to curb the major supply side pressures which look set to push inflation to 6%, namely the surge in energy prices, supply chain bottlenecks and labour shortages.

"As the debate over transitory versus sustained inflation lands firmly in the hands of the latter camp, further interest rate hikes from the Bank of England should be expected in the year ahead as inflation looks set to push higher before falling back down towards year-end."

In equity markets, Compass rallied after the catering group reported a 39% increase in first-quarter revenue and said revenues had reached 97% of their pre-Covid level.

Playtech surged as a fresh potential bid for the gambling software maker emerged, hours after a £2.7bn offer from Australia’s Aristocrat Leisure collapsed. TT Bond Partners, which advised on an earlier bid for Playtech from Gopher Investments, has been given consent by Playtech to release it from restrictions that would stop it from tabling a further offer.

Renishaw was also on the rise after it posted a jump in interim profit and revenue and said it had seen a "record" level of demand as key market sectors recover.

Miners were trading up as metals prices advanced, with Rio, Glencore, Anglo American and Antofagasta all firmer.

On the downside, BT fell after it said it was in talks with Discovery Inc about forming a sports joint venture and reported a 3% drop in profit for the first nine months of the year.

Media group Future lost ground even as it backed its full-year expectations and said trading in the four months to the end of January had been in line with expectations,.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,591.43 0.11%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 22,221.28 -0.13%
techMARK (TASX) 4,454.54 -0.17%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Compass Group (CPG) 1,755.50p 6.17%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 5,446.00p 1.70%
Glencore (GLEN) 403.80p 1.13%
Barclays (BARC) 205.15p 1.03%
Anglo American (AAL) 3,355.50p 1.02%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 53.35p 0.93%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,293.00p 0.70%
NATWEST GROUP PLC ORD 100P (NWG) 254.20p 0.67%
Kingfisher (KGF) 332.90p 0.57%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 157.72p 0.55%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

BT Group (BT.A) 188.55p -3.55%
Bunzl (BNZL) 2,756.00p -2.06%
Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 1,086.50p -1.72%
Croda International (CRDA) 8,066.00p -1.59%
Polymetal International (POLY) 1,061.00p -1.44%
Aveva Group (AVV) 2,942.00p -1.21%
Airtel Africa (AAF) 158.10p -1.19%
Spirax-Sarco Engineering (SPX) 13,405.00p -1.07%
St James's Place (STJ) 1,546.00p -0.99%
Rightmove (RMV) 660.80p -0.99%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Playtech (PTEC) 644.50p 10.17%
Renishaw (RSW) 4,866.00p 5.97%
888 Holdings (888) 262.00p 1.63%
Wood Group (John) (WG.) 221.10p 1.52%
Carnival (CCL) 1,404.40p 1.36%
UK Commercial Property Reit Limited (UKCM) 86.40p 1.05%
Provident Financial (PFG) 315.20p 1.03%
Redde Northgate (REDD) 399.50p 1.01%
Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 4,279.00p 0.94%
Network International Holdings (NETW) 257.80p 0.94%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Allianz Technology Trust (ATT) 284.00p -2.91%
Future (FUTR) 3,318.00p -2.64%
Baillie Gifford Shin Nippon (BGS) 175.80p -2.55%
Baillie Gifford US Growth Trust (USA) 228.00p -2.15%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 213.70p -2.06%
Polar Capital Technology Trust (PCT) 2,310.00p -2.04%
Reach (RCH) 260.00p -1.89%
IG Group Holdings (IGG) 807.00p -1.82%
Monks Inv Trust (MNKS) 1,168.00p -1.52%
Ultra Electronics Holdings (ULE) 2,954.00p -1.40%