London open: Stocks little changed; miners under the cosh

London stocks were steady in early trade on Monday, with little in the way of corporate or macro news to provide direction, as investors looked ahead to a speech by US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell and the all-important non-farm payrolls this week.

At 0825 GMT, the FTSE 100 was down just 0.1% at 7,940.59.

Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor, said: "Investors remain temperamental amid conflicting economic signals, with this week providing yet another test of the general mettle.

"Apart from Chair Powell’s comments this week in a two-day testimony to Congress, Friday looms large as the latest non-farm payrolls report falls due. Last month’s report rattled investors with a breath-taking addition of 517,000 jobs, and a further reduction to the unemployment rate, suggesting that the labour market is starting to show signs of immunity from the hiking cycle.

"However, expectations for February are more modest, with a consensus for 225000 jobs to have been added, while investors will also have an eye on any revisions to the previous bumper reading."

In equity markets, miners were under the cosh after China set a modest economic growth target of around 5% for this year, below forecasts of about 5.5%. Anglo American, Antofagasta, Rio Tinto and Glencore were among the worst performers on the FTSE 100.

Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "It’s clear that a return to stability is Beijing’s main aim, rather than big expansionary plans, after the painful past few years. The 5% target for growth announced at the National People’s Congress was not as high as had been hoped, particularly given the recent resurgence in factory activity and business confidence, indicating there is reticence towards signing off any blockbuster stimulus plans any time soon.

"This will nudge down hopes that China could provide the extra steam to offset declines in other major economies, prompted by efforts to rein in rampant inflation. The exception appears to be for defence which will see budgets increased by more than 7%, but rather than being encouraging this development will be tinged with worries about heightened geopolitical risk."

On the upside, B&Q owner Kingfisher and Tesco rallied after upgrade to ‘buy’ from ‘hold’ at Jefferies, while B&M European Value Retail was higher after an upgrade to ‘outperform’ from ‘sector perform’ at RBC Capital Markets.

Elsewhere, shipping services company Clarkson gained after it reported a sharp rise in annual earnings, driven by a strong performance in its broking division. Pre-tax profit for the 2022 calendar year came in at £100.1m, compared with £69.1m a year earlier. The total dividend was lifted to 93p a share from 84p.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,940.59 -0.08%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,952.21 0.13%
techMARK (TASX) 4,651.35 0.17%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Kingfisher (KGF) 291.10p 2.10%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 151.88p 1.50%
Frasers Group (FRAS) 788.50p 1.28%
Tesco (TSCO) 259.30p 1.17%
B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 494.00p 1.04%
BT Group (BT.A) 146.25p 0.97%
London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) 7,636.00p 0.90%
Flutter Entertainment (CDI) (FLTR) 13,480.00p 0.90%
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 183.40p 0.88%
Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 717.60p 0.87%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Anglo American (AAL) 2,985.00p -1.89%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,639.00p -1.50%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 543.20p -1.27%
Haleon (HLN) 312.00p -1.20%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 6,079.00p -1.06%
Glencore (GLEN) 517.60p -1.03%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RKT) 5,820.00p -0.92%
Mondi (MNDI) 1,411.50p -0.63%
GSK (GSK) 1,434.00p -0.57%
Admiral Group (ADM) 2,099.00p -0.57%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 262.60p 9.42%
IP Group (IPO) 65.60p 1.94%
Clarkson (CKN) 3,365.00p 1.82%
Bridgepoint Group (Reg S) (BPT) 252.40p 1.61%
Currys (CURY) 81.70p 1.43%
QinetiQ Group (QQ.) 341.80p 1.30%
RHI Magnesita N.V. (DI) (RHIM) 2,654.00p 1.30%
Alliance Trust (ATST) 1,020.00p 0.99%
HGCapital Trust (HGT) 364.00p 0.97%
Intermediate Capital Group (ICP) 1,413.00p 0.96%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Moonpig Group (MOON) 117.20p -2.33%
Wood Group (John) (WG.) 192.05p -1.71%
Jupiter Fund Management (JUP) 147.90p -1.53%
Darktrace (DARK) 260.70p -1.51%
Spire Healthcare Group (SPI) 225.00p -1.32%
Crest Nicholson Holdings (CRST) 230.00p -1.29%
Big Yellow Group (BYG) 1,180.00p -1.17%
SThree (STEM) 467.50p -1.16%
Lancashire Holdings Limited (LRE) 590.50p -1.09%
LondonMetric Property (LMP) 183.90p -1.02%