London open: Stocks rise on upbeat Wall St cues

London stocks rose in early trade on Friday, taking their cue from a late recovery on Wall Street.

At 0820 GMT, the FTSE 100 was 0.8% higher at 6,637.26, while the pound was up 0.1% against the dollar at 1.2654 and 0.2% lower versus the euro at 1.1041.

Mike van Dulken, head of research at Accendo Markets, said all the late reversal on Wall Street did was "add to what has become a surprisingly volatile end to the trading year, seemingly doing its best to compress 2018's moves into the space of just a few days".

"Portfolio re-rebalancing and automated trading are still being blamed, along with a poor US consumer confidence data and bargain-hunting amid thin holiday volumes. That said head-scratching is widespread while all the same headwinds prevail; US government shutdown, US/China trade uncertainty, Brexit, monetary policy tightening, oil supply/demand, etc."

Brexit was in focus after Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn said the vote on the EU withdrawal agreement - due to happen in the week starting 14 January - must take place "as soon possible".

Corbyn urged Prime Minister Theresa May to cut the Christmas recess short and recall Parliament so that MPs can vote on the deal.

In an interview with the Independent, Corbyn said: "I want us to have a vote as soon as possible, that’s what I’ve been saying for the past two weeks, and if that means recalling parliament to have the vote let’s have it.

"But it looks to me the government has once again reneged on that and tried to put it back another week."

MPs are due back in the Commons on 7 January.

Corporate news was thin on the ground.

Bank of Georgia rallied as it said it had raised $35m in two separate deals to finance local businesses. The group said it had co-operated with the Green for Growth Fund to raise $25m to finance micro and small enterprises, large businesses and public entities.

A second deal with the European Fund for Southeast Europe to raise $10m with a maturity of five years will support the working capital financing and investment needs of micro and small enterprises.

Irish building materials seller CRH gained after saying it had completed the third phase of its €1bn share buyback programme, returning a further €100m to shareholders and taking the total since April to €800m.

Outside the FTSE 350, Cambridge-based Xaar, which supplies industrial inkjet printheads, tumbled as it warned that revenue for 2018 will be below the previous year as trading in the three months to December has continued to be below its expectations.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 6,637.26 0.80%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 17,232.55 0.83%
techMARK (TASX) 3,254.34 0.56%

FTSE 100 - Risers

TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 1,118.00p 2.19%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 6,802.00p 2.13%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 158.85p 1.99%
Wood Group (John) (WG.) 499.00p 1.96%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 773.40p 1.90%
Micro Focus International (MCRO) 1,332.50p 1.83%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,776.50p 1.74%
Mondi (MNDI) 1,619.50p 1.70%
CRH (CRH) 2,042.00p 1.69%
Hiscox Limited (DI) (HSX) 1,569.00p 1.49%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 49.54p -0.98%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 5,979.00p -0.85%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 241.70p -0.29%
BT Group (BT.A) 233.20p -0.13%
Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,423.50p -0.11%
Sage Group (SGE) 586.40p -0.10%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 749.20p -0.08%
GVC Holdings (GVC) 677.00p -0.07%
Aviva (AV.) 364.59p 0.00%
Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 2,392.00p 0.00%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Indivior (INDV) 107.60p 4.62%
Premier Oil (PMO) 57.65p 3.69%
Polar Capital Technology Trust (PCT) 1,110.00p 2.59%
Cairn Energy (CNE) 143.50p 2.50%
Assura (AGR) 54.00p 2.47%
TI Fluid Systems (TIFS) 160.70p 2.36%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 168.45p 2.00%
IP Group (IPO) 113.00p 1.99%
Quilter (QLT) 116.76p 1.97%
Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 529.60p 1.92%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Morgan Advanced Materials (MGAM) 241.80p -1.87%
Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 1,142.00p -1.38%
Funding Circle Holdings (FCH) 290.00p -1.36%
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 1,181.56p -1.08%
QinetiQ Group (QQ.) 276.40p -0.83%
Moneysupermarket.com Group (MONY) 270.40p -0.81%
Just Group (JUST) 85.15p -0.70%
Avast (AVST) 273.80p -0.45%
Intu Properties (INTU) 112.95p -0.31%
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 332.40p -0.30%