London open: Stocks lower despite speculation on further Chinese easing

Ahead of the release of UK economic growth figures, the Footsie started the day moving lower is what was otherwise expected to be another light day in terms of economic data.

Traders’ focus was squarely on the latest batch of company results in the first hour, both in the UK and over on the continent.

Shares of BP grabbed the headline early after barrelling past analysts’ estimates for profits. The oil giant saw first quarter net profit print at $2.6bn, comfortably ahead of the $1bn which markets had pencilled in.

As of 08:58 the Footsie was 33.89 points lower at 7,070.12.

Acting as a backdrop, just after the open The Wall Street Journal reported that the People’s Bank of China was set to launch its own brand of quantitative easing.

In the next couple of months the Chinese central bank will allow the country’s lenders to swap local-government bonds for loans as a way to bolster liquidity and boost lending, according to local officials.

That came ahead of the next release of UK gross domestic product (GDP) data at 09:30, the last reading on the state of the British economy ahead of the elections on 7 May.

Nate Silver, the American statistician who forecast the result of the last two US presidential elections with great precision, believes the result of Britain’s general elections will be “incredibly messy”, the BBC reported.

BP results in the spotlight

BP has posted an underlying replacement cost profit decline of 20% on an annualised basis for the three months to end-March, though the figure was 15% higher on the previous quarter. In a trading statement on Tuesday, the oil giant said profit for the last quarter came in at $2.6bn compared with $3.2bn for the same period in 2014, and $2.2bn for the fourth quarter of 2014.

Costa Cofee and Premier Inn owner Whitbread served up impressive results for the year to 26 February but announced that chief executive Andy Harrison will retire by the end of the current financial year. Revenue rose 13.7% to £2.61bn and underlying profits before tax by 18.5% to £488.1m, leading to a 19.4% increase in earnings to 213.67p per share, well ahead of the consensus forecast.

Fund management group Henderson saw record net inflows of £3.6bn in the first three months of the year, which contributed to a 10% rise in assets under management to reach £89.4bn. Chief executive Andrew Formica said: “Evolving client needs have driven us to develop a broad range of investment capabilities over the last few years which has enabled us to deliver market share gains in all of our major markets.”

After a bitter battle, Dundee-based Alliance Trust has reached a "compromise" with its activist major investor Elliott Advisers, allowing two of the US hedge fund's partners onto the board. Elliott, which had criticised the board for its under-performing investments and over-inflating their pay, has in exchange agreed to withdraw its three resolutions proposing new members to be added to the board of Alliance ahead of the companies annual general meeting this week.

Wealth management group St James's Place has posted a 22% increase in funds under management, according to its latest interim statement. Giving details on Tuesday, St James's Place said funds under management had risen to £55.8bn for the three months March end, up 22% from £45.8bn in 2014, and 7% since the beginning of the year.

Market Movers
techMARK 3,239.99 -0.85%
FTSE 100 7,053.59 -0.71%
FTSE 250 17,706.82 -0.44%

FTSE 100 - Risers
Centrica (CNA) 273.00p +1.45%
BP (BP.) 482.10p +1.09%
Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 1,392.00p +0.87%
Royal Mail (RMG) 443.50p +0.75%
SSE (SSE) 1,598.00p +0.63%
Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 1,220.00p +0.41%
Intertek Group (ITRK) 2,684.00p +0.26%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 992.00p +0.25%
Aberdeen Asset Management (ADN) 472.70p +0.15%
3i Group (III) 511.50p +0.10%

FTSE 100 - Fallers
Shire Plc (SHP) 5,445.00p -2.24%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 4,606.00p -2.11%
Babcock International Group (BAB) 1,005.00p -1.86%
Whitbread (WTB) 5,345.00p -1.75%
Carnival (CCL) 3,104.00p -1.71%
Aviva (AV.) 527.50p -1.49%
St James's Place (STJ) 893.50p -1.43%
Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 3,274.00p -1.42%
Meggitt (MGGT) 540.00p -1.37%
Compass Group (CPG) 1,165.00p -1.35%

FTSE 250 - Risers
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 61.80p +1.98%
Domino's Pizza Group (DOM) 832.50p +1.90%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 416.40p +1.49%
Saga (SAGA) 188.20p +1.18%
Kier Group (KIE) 1,644.00p +1.17%
COLT Group SA (COLT) 148.70p +1.16%
Acacia Mining (ACA) 289.60p +1.08%
Just Retirement Group (JRG) 171.70p +1.06%
Henderson Group (HGG) 291.30p +0.97%
Grafton Group Units (GFTU) 826.00p +0.92%

FTSE 250 - Fallers
Allied Minds (ALM) 677.00p -3.01%
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 2,549.00p -2.90%
Ladbrokes (LAD) 101.90p -2.86%
Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 249.70p -2.65%
Pace (PIC) 417.50p -2.64%
Enterprise Inns (ETI) 117.50p -2.25%
William Hill (WMH) 362.60p -1.97%
Just Eat (JE.) 479.70p -1.94%
NMC Health (NMC) 663.00p -1.92%
BlackRock World Mining Trust (BRWM) 308.50p -1.88%