London open: Stocks nudge lower; Diploma surges on acquisition

London stocks nudged lower in early trade on Wednesday following a slightly weaker close on Wall Street.

At 0825 GMT, the FTSE 100 was down 0.1% at 7,925.25.

Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "Caution continues to reign after another day of decline on Wall Street with the FTSE 100 not expected to make significant moves in early trade.

"Many investors seem a little wary as New York indices hang near record levels, trade tensions between the US and China bubble and key data out on Friday threatens to show US inflation is still stubborn."

In equity markets, Diploma shot to the top of the FTSE 100 after saying it had bought Peerless Aerospace Fastener, a distributor of specialty fasteners into the US and European aerospace markets, for £236m.

DS Smith - which recently agreed to be taken over by Mondi - also racked up strong gains after confirming late on Tuesday that it was in talks with New York-listed International Paper about a possible takeover offer.

Under the terms of the proposal, DS Smith shareholders would receive 0.1285 shares in International Paper for each of theirs, meaning they would own around 33.8% of the combined entity.

Based on International Paper's share price of $40.85 at the close on Monday, this represents 415p and a premium of 45% to the closing DS Smith share price on 7 February, which was the last day before the start of the offer period with Mondi.

BA and Iberia owner IAG flew higher as JPMorgan Cazenove placed the shares on ‘positive catalyst watch’ ahead of first-quarter results.

It said the Q1 results could be a catalyst to spur consensus 2024E EBIT upgrades on the stock, given a more positive pricing backdrop both for Q1 and into the summer.

CMC Markets surged after saying that FY 2024 net operating income was set to exceed the top end of the previously-guided range of £290m to £310m as positive momentum continued into the fourth quarter after a strong performance in Q3.

North Sea oil and gas producer Ithaca Energy was higher after saying it was looking at a potential tie-up with Italy's Eni covering its UK assets. It also reported a slump in annual profits, blaming the British government’s energy tax and project impairments.

Elsewhere, Travis Perkins was in the black as it said chief executive Nick Roberts was stepping down from his position and the company's board after serving for five years.

On the downside, TI Fluid Systems slumped after BC Omega Holdco sold 50m ordinary shares in the company in a placing. BC Omega Holdco is an entity indirectly controlled by investment funds advised by Bain Capital, LP or its affiliates.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,925.25 -0.07%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,771.38 -0.03%
techMARK (TASX) 4,519.97 0.02%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Diploma (DPLM) 3,718.00p 8.52%
Smith (DS) (SMDS) 385.70p 7.20%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 269.60p 2.70%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 168.90p 1.75%
Associated British Foods (ABF) 2,512.00p 1.58%
Mondi (MNDI) 1,413.00p 1.29%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RKT) 4,400.00p 1.10%
SSE (SSE) 1,628.00p 0.93%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 10,524.00p 0.80%
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 115.10p 0.79%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Flutter Entertainment (DI) (FLTR) 16,700.00p -2.31%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 457.40p -2.12%
Smiths Group (SMIN) 1,665.00p -1.48%
HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 619.60p -1.23%
NATWEST GROUP (NWG) 260.20p -0.84%
BP (BP.) 495.65p -0.83%
Kingfisher (KGF) 247.90p -0.76%
Shell (SHEL) 2,629.00p -0.68%
Croda International (CRDA) 4,819.00p -0.60%
Entain (ENT) 789.20p -0.58%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Petershill Partners (PHLL) 193.80p 2.54%
Premier Foods (PFD) 152.80p 2.41%
Genuit Group (GEN) 447.50p 2.29%
Pennon Group (PNN) 663.00p 2.16%
Ithaca Energy (ITH) 145.20p 2.11%
Keller Group (KLR) 1,080.00p 2.08%
Balfour Beatty (BBY) 390.20p 1.99%
FirstGroup (FGP) 187.20p 1.74%
Hays (HAS) 96.00p 1.69%
Playtech (PTEC) 478.80p 1.44%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

TI Fluid Systems (TIFS) 142.60p -15.72%
W.A.G Payment Solutions (WPS) 64.00p -3.03%
Volution Group (FAN) 422.20p -2.22%
Wood Group (John) (WG.) 135.30p -1.89%
4Imprint Group (FOUR) 6,170.00p -1.75%
SDCL Energy Efficiency Income Trust (SEIT) 59.30p -1.66%
Hipgnosis Songs Fund Limited NPV (SONG) 61.00p -1.61%
BlackRock Greater Europe Inv Trust (BRGE) 628.00p -1.57%
Hill and Smith (HILS) 1,926.00p -1.53%
Tritax Eurobox (GBP) (EBOX) 51.90p -1.52%