London open: Stocks little changed; William Hill rallies on merger talks

Stocks in London were little changed in early trade, struggling for direction amid a lack of fresh catalysts, although deal news helped to keep things interesting.

At 0830 BST, the FTSE 100 was down 0.1% to 7,040.08, while the pound was off 0.4% versus the dollar at $1.2383.

Rebecca O’Keeffe, head of investment at Interactive Investor, said: “European markets are range bound in early trade and likely to stay that way with the US markets closed for Columbus Day. Two of the main drivers for stocks remain currencies and Deutsche Bank, with the FTSE 100 in positive territory as the pound falls further and investors still anxiously waiting for Deutsche Bank and the Department of Justice to get a deal done. However, with the US earnings season officially kicking off tomorrow with Alcoa, the week is set to provide plenty of stock and sector specific interest for investors.

“The slide in sterling continues, with the currency falling below $1.24 after the steep decline seen last week. While investors may have been expecting politicians to intervene more in order to try and stop the haemorrhage, there has been almost no support for sterling from anyone in May's government, leading the market to conclude that the UK is heading for a hard Brexit rather than the softer version many might have been hoping for.”

Oil prices retreated, with West Texas Intermediate down 0.8% at $49.40 a barrel and Brent crude off 0.7% at $51.57.

In corporate news, bookmaker William Hill rallied after confirming it was in merger talks with Toronto-listed Amaya Inc, owner of the PokerStars website, having rejected offers from smaller UK rivals in the summer.

SVG Capital nudged higher as it said it has not received an offer from US rival HarbourVest Bidco for its investment portfolio. It made the statement in response to a press release issued by HabourVest on Saturday evening.

FTSE 100 miner Randgold Resources was firmer despite saying it was “disappointed” that the Malian government shutdown the company’s offices in Bamako on Sunday in a long running dispute over taxes.

Ultra Electronics was also on the front foot as it announced it has been awarded a $34.6m cost-plus-fixed-fee contract by the US Department of the Navy to continue providing cyber-secure critical infrastructure solutions.

Outsourcer Mitie gained ground after saying chief executive officer Ruby McGregor-Smith will down on 12 December and be succeeded by Phil Bentley.

On the downside, EasyJet flew lower again after Societe Generale downgraded the stock to ‘sell’ from ‘hold’ following the company’s profit warning last week.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,057.50 0.19%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 18,022.33 0.15%
techMARK (TASX) 3,567.76 0.35%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 789.00p 1.74%
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,691.00p 1.56%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 7,185.00p 1.55%
Sky (SKY) 896.50p 1.13%
Paddy Power Betfair (PPB) 8,585.00p 1.12%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,031.50p 1.03%
Polymetal International (POLY) 862.00p 0.94%
Intu Properties (INTU) 284.40p 0.85%
BAE Systems (BA.) 545.00p 0.83%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 555.00p 0.82%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

easyJet (EZJ) 871.00p -2.12%
Barclays (BARC) 171.10p -1.93%
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 179.10p -1.54%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 360.40p -1.21%
Capita (CPI) 596.50p -1.16%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 51.99p -0.97%
Travis Perkins (TPK) 1,453.00p -0.95%
Tesco (TSCO) 199.90p -0.65%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 231.00p -0.60%
BT Group (BT.A) 367.25p -0.42%

FTSE 250 - Risers

William Hill (WMH) 310.60p 5.43%
Ted Baker (TED) 2,455.00p 2.72%
Ladbrokes (LAD) 136.80p 2.40%
Millennium & Copthorne Hotels (MLC) 435.90p 2.32%
Fidessa Group (FDSA) 2,390.00p 2.09%
CYBG (CYBG) 267.40p 2.02%
Ultra Electronics Holdings (ULE) 1,878.00p 1.73%
Worldwide Healthcare Trust (WWH) 2,170.00p 1.64%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 643.00p 1.50%
NCC Group (NCC) 347.90p 1.49%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

CLS Holdings (CLI) 1,528.00p -3.23%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 266.70p -2.98%
NMC Health (NMC) 1,375.00p -2.34%
Ascential (ASCL) 277.70p -2.32%
Sports Direct International (SPD) 267.60p -1.98%
Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 1,540.00p -1.85%
Grafton Group Units (GFTU) 485.10p -1.80%
TalkTalk Telecom Group (TALK) 212.00p -1.76%
Moneysupermarket.com Group (MONY) 294.50p -1.44%
Auto Trader Group (AUTO) 390.70p -1.44%