London open: Stocks steady as investors mull earnings; Barclays, StanChart in focus

London stocks were steady in early trade on Wednesday as investors mulled results from US technology giants Alphabet and Microsoft overnight, with Barclays and Standard Chartered in focus on home turf.

At 0850 BST, the FTSE 100 was flat at 7,014.87, while sterling was up 0.9% against the dollar at 1.1576.

The greenback was under pressure after data released on Tuesday showed that house price growth in the US slowed in August amid higher interest rates. The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller home price index covering all nine US census divisions rose 13% on the year, down from 15.6%growth in July.

Victoria Scholar, head of investment at Interactive Investor, said: "European markets are trading around the flatline as investors digest a raft of corporate earnings from the UK, continental Europe, and the US.

"In the United States, earnings across sectors appeared to confirm fears of a growth slowdown facing corporate America highlighting worries about a recession and further weakness for equity markets ahead. A disappointing update from Google’s parent company Alphabet highlighted the pressures facing the digital ad sector as the US economy begins to show signs of weakness, and also pointed to the stiff competition for eyeballs particularly among fickle social media users who are currently fixated on their latest obsession, TikTok."

On home shores, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was due to make his first appearance in Parliament later in the day at PMQs, amid speculation that the fiscal statement, which is due on Halloween, could be delayed.

In equity markets, banks were in focus after results from Barclays and Standard Chartered.

Barclays was trading down even as it reported a better-than-expected rise in third-quarter profits despite a sharp jump in bad loan charges as consumers started to feel the impact of the cost-of-living crisis.

StanChart was also lower despite posting an estimate-beating 40% increase in third-quarter profit and lifting its annual outlook.

WPP was under the cosh even as the advertising giant lifted its revenue forecast for the full year and reported a 10% increase in third-quarter revenue.

Consumer goods giant Reckitt Benckiser fell even as it narrowed its sales target and posted a jump in third-quarter revenues despite "challenging" market conditions.

Transport operator FirstGroup was in the red after saying it expects to receive $85m from EQT’s sale of First Transit.

Software, security and cloud services specialist Bytes Technology slumped despite reporting a rise in first-half profit and revenues amid growth across all areas of the business.

On the upside, AstraZeneca rallied as it said its capivasertib breast cancer drug combined with Faslodex hormone treatment demonstrated a “statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement” in progression-free patient (PFS) survival during a late-stage trial.

Hochschild gained as the silver and gold miner announced a major discovery at its Pallancata deposit in Southern Peru and said it was on course to meet full-year production after its third quarter turned out to be the strongest quarter so far this year.

Specialty chemicals company Elementis rose after it backed its full-year outlook and said trading in the third quarter had been in line.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,014.87 0.02%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 17,867.55 0.20%
techMARK (TASX) 4,213.44 0.39%

FTSE 100 - Risers

AstraZeneca (AZN) 9,992.00p 2.45%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,170.00p 2.05%
Fresnillo (FRES) 728.60p 2.02%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 380.00p 1.90%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 513.80p 1.78%
Frasers Group (FRAS) 656.00p 1.31%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 110.55p 1.24%
Rightmove (RMV) 495.30p 1.21%
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 3,562.00p 1.19%
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 99.36p 1.08%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

WPP (WPP) 741.80p -3.61%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RKT) 5,768.00p -3.32%
Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 1,898.50p -2.82%
Diageo (DGE) 3,550.50p -2.18%
Haleon (HLN) 268.20p -1.79%
Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 754.20p -1.59%
Unilever (ULVR) 3,867.50p -1.50%
Whitbread (WTB) 2,594.00p -1.07%
Intermediate Capital Group (ICP) 1,045.00p -0.90%
Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 771.80p -0.67%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Hochschild Mining (HOC) 60.95p 5.82%
Elementis (ELM) 98.00p 4.31%
Synthomer (SYNT) 109.60p 4.08%
Molten Ventures (GROW) 307.00p 4.07%
Moneysupermarket.com Group (MONY) 182.60p 2.82%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 110.30p 2.60%
PureTech Health (PRTC) 239.50p 2.57%
Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 1,448.50p 2.51%
RHI Magnesita N.V. (DI) (RHIM) 1,751.00p 2.34%
Dr. Martens (DOCS) 236.40p 2.25%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Bytes Technology Group (BYIT) 415.60p -5.11%
FirstGroup (FGP) 105.90p -2.93%
Polar Capital Technology Trust (PCT) 1,890.00p -2.58%
Urban Logistics Reit (SHED) 136.50p -2.50%
HGCapital Trust (HGT) 371.50p -2.24%
Bluefield Solar Income Fund Limited (BSIF) 131.50p -2.23%
Warehouse Reit (WHR) 122.00p -1.93%
Abrdn Private Equity Opportunities Trust (APEO) 418.00p -1.88%
Edinburgh Worldwide Inv Trust (EWI) 167.40p -1.76%
Blackrock Throgmorton Trust (THRG) 545.00p -1.62%