London open: Stocks rise as banks rally; AB Foods loses ground

London stocks rose in early trade on Monday, helped along by strength in the banking sector.

At 0910 BST, the FTSE 100 was up 0.5% at 7,061.40, despite having been called to open lower after a weak Asian session.

Markets in Asia fell following a report that Chinese authorities want to break up fintech company Ant Group’s Alipay and create a separate app for the loans business.

Neil Wilson, chief market analyst at Markets.com, said: "Stocks are trading a tad firmer in the early part of the session, after a toughish week."

He said there is "a mild risk-on feel to the start of the new trading week".

"The FTSE 100 is up half of one percent after it tested the 7,000 support last week, which has held for now. The index is slap in the middle of the range it’s treaded since April, failing to break out in any meaningful way.

"Utilities, energy and financials doing the lifting this morning, with Royal Mail and National Grid at the top of the leader board."

In equity markets, banks were on the front foot, with Barclays, Lloyds and Standard Chartered all higher.

WH Smith was also trading up after US activist investor Causeway Capital - which has been demanding major change at Rolls-Royce - became the biggest shareholder in the retailer with a 9.05% stake.

Rolls-Royce and Babcock were both in focus after saying they were selling their stakes in in AirTanker Holdings Limited to Equitix Investment Management. Rolls-Royce is selling its 23.1% shareholding for £189m and Babcock its 15.4% share for £126m.

Transport operator FirstGroup gained after it said trading in the year to date has been in line and outlined plans to return £500m to investors.

Specialist information and analytics company Ascential ticked higher after announcing the acquisition of OneSpace, a content optimisation business serving brands trading on eCommerce marketplaces, for an undisclosed sum.

On the downside, Primark owner Associated British Foods fell even as it raised its full-year profit outlook as weaker-than-expected fourth-quarter sales at Primark were offset by strong profit margins in the fashion business and a solid performance from its food and sugar divisions.

AB Foods said adjusted operating profit for its 2020-21 fiscal year, before repayment of job retention cash, would be marginally above last year excluding the benefit of a 53rd week this year. It had previously forecast it to be in line with the previous year's £1bn.

Shares of budget airline easyJet tumbled as they went ex-rights.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,061.40 0.46%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 23,803.64 0.30%
techMARK (TASX) 4,697.95 -0.01%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Royal Mail (RMG) 482.80p 2.05%
National Grid (NG.) 953.80p 1.91%
Barclays (BARC) 183.58p 1.84%
NATWEST GROUP PLC ORD 100P (NWG) 210.50p 1.64%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 694.20p 1.61%
CRH (CDI) (CRH) 3,739.00p 1.58%
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 4,651.00p 1.55%
Persimmon (PSN) 2,781.00p 1.50%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 43.18p 1.46%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 446.30p 1.43%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Associated British Foods (ABF) 1,908.00p -3.15%
Entain (ENT) 1,897.00p -1.53%
Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 1,386.50p -1.00%
Mondi (MNDI) 1,992.00p -0.94%
Intermediate Capital Group (ICP) 2,237.00p -0.84%
Auto Trader Group (AUTO) 637.00p -0.78%
Avast (AVST) 585.00p -0.75%
Fresnillo (FRES) 829.40p -0.74%
Rightmove (RMV) 741.20p -0.70%
BAE Systems (BA.) 551.20p -0.58%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Tullow Oil (TLW) 41.69p 3.50%
FirstGroup (FGP) 89.45p 3.41%
Trainline (TRN) 375.80p 2.73%
Harbour Energy (HBR) 384.00p 2.73%
WH Smith (SMWH) 1,546.50p 2.62%
Centrica (CNA) 50.70p 2.01%
Babcock International Group (BAB) 346.80p 1.94%
Pantheon International (PIN) 2,905.00p 1.93%
Baillie Gifford Shin Nippon (BGS) 268.00p 1.71%
Restaurant Group (RTN) 120.40p 1.69%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Civitas Social Housing (CSH) 96.90p -3.00%
IP Group (IPO) 143.60p -2.18%
Petropavlovsk (POG) 19.70p -2.09%
TP Icap Group (TCAP) 160.20p -1.55%
CMC Markets (CMCX) 278.50p -1.42%
IG Group Holdings (IGG) 845.50p -1.40%
Dunelm Group (DNLM) 1,494.00p -1.39%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 184.80p -1.26%
Ultra Electronics Holdings (ULE) 3,154.00p -1.19%
Hill & Smith Holdings (HILS) 1,852.00p -1.17%