London open: Stocks little changed; pound gains ground versus dollar

London stocks were little changed in early trade following downbeat sessions in the US and Asia, while the pound gained back some ground against the dollar.

At 0830 BST, the FTSE 100 was down 0.1% to 7,062.23. Sterling, meanwhile, was up 1.3% versus the dollar at $1.2273 following a Bloomberg report suggesting Prime Minister Theresa May has accepted to hold a parliamentary vote on her plans for taking the UK out of the European Union, raising hopes that this would help curb her push for a hard Brexit.

Rebecca O’Keeffe, head of investment at stockbroker Interactive Investor, said: “Sterling volatility continues to drive sentiment and the FTSE 100 performance, but the confirmation by Theresa May that the UK parliament will get to vote on Brexit negotiations has managed to halt the decline in the currency, for now at least. However, the big catalyst for markets today is likely to be the release of September's Federal Reserve minutes. With the direction of market travel still dominated by what the Fed will do this year, these minutes should shed further light on whether the Fed has become more hawkish or not.

“Although the FTSE 100 passed its all-time intraday high yesterday on the back of continued currency weakness, the reality is that individual shares and sectors are experiencing dramatically different fortunes. The FTSE 100 has become polarised between stocks which are perceived to be benefitting from weaker sterling and the prospect of Brexit versus those which have fallen out of favour as currency and referendum concerns grow. The future of the FTSE 100 remains uncertain, but what is clear is that there are plenty of trading opportunities for investors, depending on your short and long term view of how the UK will cope with the pressures ahead.”

On the corporate front, miner Fresnillo slipped back after a quarterly production report, while Domino’s Pizza also nudged lower despite saying it continued to trade well in the third quarter and reporting an 11.5% jump in system sales.

Shares in Premier Foods tumbled after it warned that first-half trading profit was likely to be slightly below the previous year and posted a drop in second-quarter sales due to warmer weather.

On the upside, property, residential, construction and services company Kier Group rose after saying it has completed the disposal of Mouchel Consulting to WSP Global for a total consideration of £75m.

Countryside Properties was also on the front foot. The private and public partnerships housebuilder said its rate of sales completions slowed but remained robust in the fourth quarter, while its order book swelled to a record size as it eyed major potential to work in partnership with local authorities and housing associations.

There are no major UK data releases due, but the FOMC minutes are at 1900 BST.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,066.41 -0.06%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 18,085.24 0.07%
techMARK (TASX) 3,563.12 -0.24%

FTSE 100 - Risers

easyJet (EZJ) 919.00p 2.05%
Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 1,284.00p 1.90%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 382.30p 1.65%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 2,715.50p 1.34%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 484.80p 1.06%
Persimmon (PSN) 1,746.00p 1.04%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 149.10p 0.95%
Prudential (PRU) 1,450.00p 0.83%
Centrica (CNA) 213.90p 0.80%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 234.50p 0.73%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Whitbread (WTB) 3,834.00p -1.36%
Old Mutual (OML) 195.10p -1.32%
Next (NXT) 4,666.00p -0.98%
Wolseley (WOS) 4,513.00p -0.86%
CRH (CRH) 2,670.00p -0.85%
Shire Plc (SHP) 5,178.00p -0.80%
Intertek Group (ITRK) 3,661.00p -0.76%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 769.00p -0.71%
Mediclinic International (MDC) 892.50p -0.67%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 6,915.00p -0.65%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Pagegroup (PAGE) 381.10p 3.59%
Electrocomponents (ECM) 374.80p 2.97%
Countryside Properties (CSP) 237.00p 2.69%
Millennium & Copthorne Hotels (MLC) 461.00p 2.42%
Zoopla Property Group (WI) (ZPLA) 336.60p 2.12%
Riverstone Energy Limited (RSE) 1,224.00p 1.83%
Hunting (HTG) 556.00p 1.65%
DFS Furniture (DFS) 257.80p 1.58%
Bodycote (BOY) 629.00p 1.37%
Close Brothers Group (CBG) 1,398.00p 1.16%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Sophos Group (SOPH) 248.60p -4.35%
Sports Direct International (SPD) 283.70p -3.34%
PayPoint (PAY) 1,012.00p -2.69%
Genus (GNS) 1,971.00p -1.74%
Barr (A.G.) (BAG) 473.00p -1.60%
JRP Group (JRP) 131.60p -1.35%
The Renewables Infrastructure Group Limited (TRIG) 107.00p -1.11%
Thomas Cook Group (TCG) 67.30p -0.96%
Smurfit Kappa Group (SKG) 1,830.00p -0.87%
Safestore Holdings (SAFE) 370.70p -0.86%