London open: Stocks nudge lower as investors digest latest poll; easyJet bucks trend
London stocks nudged lower in early trade on Tuesday as investors digested the latest opinion poll ahead of Thursday's general election.
At 0830 BST, the FTSE 100 was down 0.1% to 7,519.74, while the pound was holding its own, trading up 0.2% against the euro at 1.1483 and 0.1% versus the dollar at 1.2912 even as the latest poll from Survation for ITV out on Monday showed the Tories just one point ahead of Labour.
London Capital Group analyst Ipek Ozkardeskaya said: "The GBPUSD remains well bid ahead of the UK’s snap election due on Thursday, although most of the pound’s strength is certainly due to the broad based weakness in the US dollar.
"The short-term volatility in pound is attention-grabbing and should prevent cable from any major directional move before the result of the election."
Investors were digesting the latest figures from the British Retail Consortium and KPMG, which showed UK retail sales fell slightly in May, as a six-year low in non-food sales offset a strong month for supermarkets.
Sales increased by 0.4% on a like-for-like basis compared to the May last year, while total sales, which includes the effect of new shop openings, rose 0.2%, which was the lowest since January, excluding Easter distortions.
Non-food retailers endured their worst three months since May 2011, while sales decreased 0.3% on a like-for-like basis and were up 0.1% on a total basis. On the upside, food sales were up 3.2% on a like-for-like basis and 4.3% on a total basis over the three months to May, which was the strongest since February 2012.
In corporate news, online electrical goods retailer AO World slumped as group operating losses for the year widened to £12m from £10.6m the year before and the company warned that first-quarter growth would slow significantly year on year.
Challenger bank Shawbrook was in the red as it rejected a third and final buyout offer from private equity groups Pollen Street Capital and BC Partners, saying it continued to undervalue the group.
Temporary power provider Aggreko slipped as it announced that Carole Cran was stepping down from the role of chief financial officer, while budget carrier Ryanair retreated after it reported an 11% jump in traffic in May as the load factor nudged higher.
Convatec was under the cosh after Nordic Capital and Avista Capital Holdings sold 250m shares in the company, while Countryside Properties fell after two divisional chiefs sold just over 11m shares.
Going the other way, Fresnillo and Randgold Resources were among the top performers as gold prices advanced, while easyJet flew higher as it said passenger numbers rose 9.5% to 7.51m in May and the load factor was unchanged at 91.5%.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,519.74 -0.08%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,820.79 -0.24%
techMARK (TASX) 3,645.98 -0.11%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,643.00p 1.29%
easyJet (EZJ) 1,360.00p 1.19%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 7,580.00p 1.07%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 8,064.00p 0.96%
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,700.50p 0.56%
Smurfit Kappa Group (SKG) 2,211.00p 0.55%
Carnival (CCL) 5,075.00p 0.50%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 184.30p 0.44%
Compass Group (CPG) 1,681.00p 0.36%
HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 683.80p 0.35%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Convatec Group (CTEC) 327.10p -4.91%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,776.00p -1.88%
Paddy Power Betfair (PPB) 8,455.00p -1.40%
Old Mutual (OML) 199.70p -0.89%
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 257.50p -0.85%
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 1,661.00p -0.84%
ITV (ITV) 186.90p -0.74%
Centrica (CNA) 195.50p -0.71%
Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 242.40p -0.70%
Mediclinic International (MDC) 790.50p -0.69%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Nostrum Oil & Gas (NOG) 521.00p 2.76%
Clarkson (CKN) 2,554.00p 2.12%
Marshalls (MSLH) 411.30p 2.03%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 586.00p 1.91%
Sanne Group (SNN) 674.50p 1.66%
Weir Group (WEIR) 1,846.00p 1.65%
FirstGroup (FGP) 143.10p 1.49%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 300.40p 1.18%
JPMorgan Indian Investment Trust (JII) 731.50p 0.97%
Tate & Lyle (TATE) 760.00p 0.86%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
AO World (AO.) 135.00p -6.90%
Diploma (DPLM) 1,100.00p -1.79%
Rank Group (RNK) 217.30p -1.72%
Vectura Group (VEC) 111.10p -1.51%
Countryside Properties (CSP) 325.60p -1.48%
BGEO Group (BGEO) 3,622.00p -1.44%
Ted Baker (TED) 2,391.00p -1.40%
Dixons Carphone (DC.) 318.90p -1.33%
Essentra (ESNT) 566.50p -1.22%
Just Group (JUST) 133.90p -1.18%