London open: Stocks nudge down as energy shares sink
London stocks nudged lower in early trade on Thursday following a downbeat session in Asia, with energy shares under the cosh as oil prices slid.
At 0900 GMT, the FTSE 100 was down 0.1% at 7,281.90.
Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: "The FTSE 100 continues to drift having fallen just short in its effort to reclaim pre-pandemic levels.
"Once again, the index is left in the miserable position of being shown up by its global peers, many of which had put their Covid losses behind them months ago or even longer. In a global index sports team the FTSE is getting picked dead last.
"Mounting inflation has helped drag the index back as it raises the likelihood of a pre-Christmas rate rise, thereby boosting the pound. When some 70% of its constituents’ earnings are derived from overseas, strength in sterling isn’t that helpful."
In equity markets, GlaxoSmithKline was the worst performer on the FTSE 100 as it traded without entitlement to the dividend.
Shell and BP were also sharply lower as the oil price hit a near six-week low after the US reportedly asked some of the world’s largest oil consuming nations to consider releasing crude stockpiles.
Halma fell even as it posted record first-half results amid strong growth across all sectors as it backed its full-year expectations despite supply chain issues.
Rotork slumped after the flow control and instrumentation maker said second-half revenue would be squeezed as supply-chain pressures continued.
Waste management company Biffa lost ground even as it reinstated its dividend and backed full-year expectations as it said adjusted operating profit returned to pre-pandemic levels in the first half.
Micro Focus was in the red despite reporting a slowdown in revenue decline.
On the upside, Royal Mail rallied after saying it would return £400m of cash to shareholders as the delivery service swung to a statutory profit in the first half of the year. Operating profit for the six months to 26 September was £311m compared with a £20m loss a year earlier as revenue rose 7.3% to £6.07bn. Pre-tax profit rose to £315m from £17m.
Housebuilders were on the rise after Crest Nicholson lifted its full-year profit expectations as the contribution from the sale of its share in the Surrey Longcross film studio was more than expected. It also hailed a strong sales performance throughout the second half.
Gambling software maker Playtech rose after confirming it has received an approach from the JKO consortium that includes former Formula One team owner Eddie Jordan about a potential bid. It is the third approach is the after Gopher Investments expressed an interest in Playtech a couple of days after it accepted Aristocrat Leisure £2.1bn offer.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,281.90 -0.13%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 23,486.16 0.22%
techMARK (TASX) 4,578.13 -0.24%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Royal Mail (RMG) 459.80p 4.98%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 156.40p 2.29%
Persimmon (PSN) 2,746.00p 2.08%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 682.80p 2.00%
Informa (INF) 516.00p 1.78%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 734.40p 1.69%
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 4,360.00p 1.49%
Spirax-Sarco Engineering (SPX) 16,395.00p 1.42%
Intermediate Capital Group (ICP) 2,360.00p 1.24%
SEGRO (SGRO) 1,349.50p 1.20%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,524.20p -2.23%
Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 1,661.80p -1.77%
Royal Dutch Shell 'A' (RDSA) 1,660.00p -1.74%
BP (BP.) 336.75p -1.54%
DCC (CDI) (DCC) 5,902.00p -1.21%
Halma (HLMA) 3,091.00p -1.12%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,415.00p -1.08%
Polymetal International (POLY) 1,500.50p -1.06%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 4,408.00p -1.01%
Anglo American (AAL) 2,852.50p -0.87%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Rank Group (RNK) 155.00p 3.20%
Playtech (PTEC) 761.50p 2.77%
Restaurant Group (RTN) 90.70p 2.72%
Crest Nicholson Holdings (CRST) 342.00p 2.40%
CMC Markets (CMCX) 248.00p 2.06%
Virgin Money UK (VMUK) 176.40p 1.85%
Bellway (BWY) 3,179.00p 1.79%
Trustpilot Group (TRST) 312.00p 1.76%
Tyman (TYMN) 405.00p 1.76%
Bridgepoint Group (Reg S) (BPT) 530.00p 1.73%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Rotork (ROR) 344.20p -7.42%
Biffa (BIFF) 377.50p -4.43%
PureTech Health (PRTC) 325.00p -3.70%
Harbour Energy (HBR) 370.00p -3.55%
Micro Focus International (MCRO) 399.00p -3.32%
Cairn Energy (CNE) 186.10p -3.07%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 284.40p -2.87%
Wood Group (John) (WG.) 203.60p -2.21%
Fidelity China Special Situations (FCSS) 332.00p -1.78%
Caledonia Investments (CLDN) 3,785.00p -1.69%