London open: Stocks rise but Ocado slumps after share placing

London stocks rose in early trade on Tuesday, taking their cue from a mostly positive session in Asia.

At 0840 BST, the FTSE 100 was up 0.3% at 7,145.39.

Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor, said: "Left to their own devices following a public US holiday, global markets made a tentative recovery from the recent unrelenting pressure, even if such relief has tended to be brief over recent months.

"At this early stage, US futures are also pointing higher to the reopening of trade later, although the pervasive sense of caution remains.

"For the UK, the calendar remains a central focus with updates over the course of the week which may underline the increasing pressure facing the economy. Updates on inflation, the Retail Price Index, retail sales and consumer confidence carry a strong theme and will provide some indication into the current sentiment among consumers.

"Recent numbers from various retailers have, on the whole, underlined the current woes where an increasing stranglehold on customer wallets is beginning to wash through."

In equity markets, miners were among the top gainers following heavy losses in the previous session, with Antofagasta, Rio Tinto and Glencore all higher.

Oil giants BP and Shell were also on the front foot as oil prices rose.

DS Smith gained as the packaging business posted significantly improved full-year profits despite "another year of volatile trading conditions".

Telecom Plus - better known under its trading name Utility Warehouse - rallied after it reported record full-year results amid strong demand, and lifted its FY23 profit expectations.

Educational publisher Pearson was boosted by an upgrade to ‘buy’ from ‘hold’ at Deutsche Bank, while Spire Healthcare shot up after an initiation at ‘buy’ at Berenberg.

On the downside, Ocado slumped after the online supermarket said it had raised £575m in a share placing to fund its expansion. Just over 72.3m new ordinary shares were placed at 795p per share, with existing and new institutional investors. The placing price represents a discount of around 9.4% to the closing share price on Monday.

The online supermarket also raised an additional £3m selling shares to management and in an offer to retail investors.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,145.39 0.33%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,066.95 0.30%
techMARK (TASX) 4,243.53 0.22%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Standard Chartered (STAN) 615.20p 1.85%
St James's Place (STJ) 1,134.50p 1.66%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,311.50p 1.59%
Smith (DS) (SMDS) 286.70p 1.56%
Mondi (MNDI) 1,480.50p 1.37%
Pearson (PSON) 782.20p 1.32%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 122.16p 1.31%
BP (BP.) 396.50p 1.28%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 5,189.00p 1.25%
Shell (SHEL) 2,135.50p 1.18%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Ocado Group (OCDO) 834.60p -4.90%
Associated British Foods (ABF) 1,624.00p -1.40%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 1,020.00p -0.97%
Centrica (CNA) 79.86p -0.97%
Severn Trent (SVT) 2,770.00p -0.86%
Spirax-Sarco Engineering (SPX) 9,218.00p -0.67%
SSE (SSE) 1,609.00p -0.62%
Harbour Energy (HBR) 354.40p -0.53%
HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 534.90p -0.48%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RKT) 6,084.00p -0.46%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Spire Healthcare Group (SPI) 221.50p 3.26%
Telecom Plus (TEP) 1,818.00p 2.83%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 52.15p 2.46%
NCC Group (NCC) 212.50p 2.41%
Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 2,157.00p 2.28%
PZ Cussons (PZC) 196.60p 2.18%
Watches of Switzerland Group (WOSG) 782.00p 2.16%
Wetherspoon (J.D.) (JDW) 715.00p 2.14%
Murray International Trust (MYI) 1,240.00p 1.97%
Auction Technology Group (ATG) 865.00p 1.88%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

ASOS (ASC) 835.00p -4.19%
Network International Holdings (NETW) 180.80p -3.88%
RHI Magnesita N.V. (DI) (RHIM) 2,268.00p -2.07%
Fidelity China Special Situations (FCSS) 266.00p -1.48%
IntegraFin Holding (IHP) 241.40p -1.47%
Pennon Group (PNN) 994.50p -1.24%
Target Healthcare Reit Ltd (THRL) 111.40p -1.24%
JPMorgan Japanese Inv Trust (JFJ) 414.50p -1.07%
JPMorgan European Discovery Trust (JEDT) 371.00p -0.93%
Virgin Money UK (VMUK) 125.45p -0.87%