London open: Stocks steady ahead of Budget; miners slump

London stocks were steady in early trade on Wednesday as investors eyed the autumn Budget.

At 0835 BST, the FTSE 100 was flat at 7,275.25.

CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson said: "With all the briefings that have been taking place since the weekend there would appear to be little in the way of surprises when the Chancellor of the Exchequer gets up to speak later today. Most of the content appears to have already been pre-briefed much to the displeasure of the Speaker of the House of Commons.

"These include increases to public sector pay, a huge cash injection for the NHS, investment in regional transport, skills, housing, and education, along with a freeze to fuel duty, however the devil will be in the detail, in terms of how much it is all likely to cost."

The Budget is due at 1230 BST, after PMQs.

Meanwhile, figures out earlier from the British Retail Consortium showed UK shoppers face rising prices in the run-up to Christmas after the cost of goods increased for the third month running.

Total food prices rose 0.4% in October from a month earlier compared with a 0.1% month-on-month increase in September, the BRC/NielsenIQ shop price index showed. Overall prices remained below the level of a year earlier but the annual rate of decline reduced.

Food prices rose 0.5% in October from the previous month and non-food prices increased by 0.3%. Food inflation rose sharply from 0.2% in September and non-food price growth accelerated from 0.1%.

Fresh food prices rose for the first time in 10 months and non-food prices were affected by rising costs caused by shortages and supply constraints that hit products such as furniture.

Price increases have been fuelled by the rising cost of commodities, component shortages, bottlenecks at ports and a shortage of lorry drivers. The BRC said 60% of retailers surveyed expected prices to increase as Christmas approaches.

Helen Dickinson, the BRC's chief executive, said: "This is the third consecutive month of both food and non-food month-on-month rises. The increased costs from labour shortages, supply chain issues and rising commodity prices have started filtering through to the consumer. Tight margins mean retailers may not be able to absorb all of these new costs, so prices will continue to rise."

In equity markets, cybersecurity firm Darktrace was the standout gainer on the top-flight index, having fallen sharply in the previous two sessions on the back of a ‘sell’ note by broker Peel Hunt.

Transport operator FirstGroup rallied to the top of the FTSE 250 after confirming it will return £500m to shareholders through a tender offer at 105p a share.

HomeServe gained after it announced the acquisition of CET Structures, a UK home emergency assistance business, for £53m, and said current trading was in line with guidance.

On the downside, miners retreated as copper and other base metals prices fell, with Anglo American, Glencore, Antofagasta, Rio and BHP all weaker.

Admiral slumped after Munich Re sold 12.1m shares in the insurer in a placing at 2,940p each.

Fresnillo lost its shine after the mining company reported lower silver and flat gold production in the third-quarter as it warned of the impact of labour shortages and inflationary pressures.

Wickes lost ground after it confirmed its full-year profit guidance despite inflationary headwinds, but reported a dip in third-quarter sales.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,275.25 -0.03%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 23,179.04 0.08%
techMARK (TASX) 4,601.63 0.03%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Darktrace (DARK) 756.00p 3.07%
Compass Group (CPG) 1,524.50p 2.01%
Intermediate Capital Group (ICP) 2,250.00p 1.90%
Whitbread (WTB) 3,327.00p 1.03%
Entain (ENT) 2,021.00p 0.95%
Bunzl (BNZL) 2,631.00p 0.84%
Spirax-Sarco Engineering (SPX) 15,595.00p 0.78%
National Grid (NG.) 929.80p 0.76%
SEGRO (SGRO) 1,308.00p 0.73%
Relx plc (REL) 2,256.00p 0.58%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Admiral Group (ADM) 2,904.00p -4.69%
Fresnillo (FRES) 868.00p -2.03%
Anglo American (AAL) 2,762.50p -1.99%
Glencore (GLEN) 363.10p -1.84%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,411.50p -1.81%
Polymetal International (POLY) 1,351.50p -1.64%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 4,661.00p -1.35%
BHP Group (BHP) 1,954.20p -1.29%
Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 1,475.50p -1.17%
BAE Systems (BA.) 557.20p -1.00%

FTSE 250 - Risers

FirstGroup (FGP) 101.30p 5.36%
Bytes Technology Group (BYIT) 524.00p 4.59%
NCC Group (NCC) 257.00p 3.42%
Softcat (SCT) 2,046.00p 2.92%
Homeserve (HSV) 849.00p 2.10%
SSP Group (SSPG) 262.70p 1.94%
XP Power Ltd. (DI) (XPP) 5,350.00p 1.90%
Airtel Africa (AAF) 100.80p 1.82%
Unite Group (UTG) 1,108.50p 1.70%
Rathbone Brothers (RAT) 2,050.00p 1.49%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Chrysalis Investments Limited NPV (CHRY) 239.00p -2.85%
Petropavlovsk (POG) 24.24p -2.42%
JPMorgan Emerging Markets Inv Trust (JMG) 129.00p -2.12%
Ashmore Group (ASHM) 349.20p -1.69%
Direct Line Insurance Group (DLG) 281.60p -1.54%
Just Group (JUST) 92.10p -1.50%
AO World (AO.) 148.60p -1.46%
4Imprint Group (FOUR) 2,945.00p -1.34%
TP Icap Group (TCAP) 158.68p -1.13%
Herald Investment Trust (HRI) 2,310.00p -1.07%