London open: UK stocks gain ahead of BoE's Super Thursday

UK stocks gained ahead of the Bank of England’s so-called Super Thursday which includes the central bank’s policy decision, meeting minutes and Inflation Report.

The BoE’s Monetary Policy Committee is once again projected to vote 8-1 on maintaining the benchmark rate at 0.5% amid low inflation and weak global growth.

The minutes of the policy decision are expected to reveal Ian McCafferty remained the only member of the MPC to vote in favour of a rate hike.

Since the MPC is unlikely to deliver any surprises, focus will be on the meeting minutes and the Inflation Report for clues on the timing of the first interest rate increase.

“Whether the Bank of England acts on interest rates at all in 2016 currently looks touch and go,” said Howard Archer, chief UK and European economist at IHS Global Insight.

“Governor Mark Carney’s recent high profile speech indicated that UK growth and inflation since last summer has been weaker than the Bank of England had expected, and the conditions are not in place for an interest rate hike. His speech fuelled the view that the Bank of England could sit tight on interest rates through 2016.”

People took advantage of low interest rates in January with high demand in the property market pushing house prices up in January, data from Halifax revealed.

UK house prices rose 1.7% in January compared to a month ago, surging past analysts’ expectations for a 0.1% increase. House prices increased 2% month-on-month in December.

On the year house prices jumped 9.7% in January compared with a 9.5% annual increase in December. Analyst had predicted a 9% gain.

Meanwhile, oil prices advanced in morning trade amid reports of potential talks between global oil producers to curb the supply glut. Brent crude rose 0.53% to $35.23 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate climbed 0.89% to $32.57 per barrel at 0856 GMT.

“Yet Brent Crude has already begun to threaten to fall through that $35 per barrel level, so how long the morning’s impressively positive trading can last is another matter entirely,” said Connor Campbell, financial analyst at Spreadex.

“As we have seen since the New Year began, things can turn negative in the blink of an eye; all it takes is one reminder of the myriad of underlying fears currently plaguing the markets (a reminder likely taking the form of a Mark Carney speech later today) for the whole thing to come, quite literally, tumbling down.”

Still to come, US initial jobless claims figures will be released at 1330 GMT, while reports on US durable goods orders and factory orders will be published at 1500 GMT.

In company news, oil producers were sitting higher on the increase in crude prices. Even Royal Dutch Shell rallied after posting an 80% drop in full year profit.

Astrazeneca dropped after warning that the expiry of the patent on its anti-cholesterol drug Crestor will cut its profits this year as cheaper, generic versions come to the market.

Smith & Nephew declined after saying full year revenue has remained flat for the year to 31 December 2015, while reported operating profit dipped.

Vodafone was in the red after reporting a 6.3% drop in revenue on a reported basis in the three months to 31 December 2015.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 5,911.78 1.28%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 16,109.67 0.73%
techMARK (TASX) 3,092.10 0.22%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Anglo American (AAL) 298.45p 9.04%
Glencore (GLEN) 92.56p 7.69%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 1,785.50p 5.96%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 680.20p 5.75%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 394.80p 5.11%
Compass Group (CPG) 1,233.00p 5.03%
Royal Dutch Shell 'A' (RDSA) 1,498.00p 4.17%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 431.00p 4.06%
Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 1,495.50p 4.03%
Old Mutual (OML) 158.20p 3.87%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 1,344.00p -4.00%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 4,274.50p -3.12%
Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 3,685.50p -1.15%
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 2,389.00p -0.75%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 520.00p -0.67%
Unilever (ULVR) 3,002.00p -0.60%
Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,111.00p -0.45%
Worldpay Group (WI) (WPG) 309.20p -0.26%
Legal & General Group (LGEN) 217.70p -0.14%
Admiral Group (ADM) 1,758.00p -0.11%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Tullow Oil (TLW) 176.30p 9.37%
Allied Minds (ALM) 310.00p 5.08%
Countrywide (CWD) 350.50p 4.85%
Vectura Group (VEC) 177.00p 4.73%
Investec (INVP) 433.20p 4.21%
Ophir Energy (OPHR) 87.40p 4.17%
AA (AA.) 286.70p 4.03%
Weir Group (WEIR) 818.00p 3.87%
Evraz (EVR) 59.15p 3.68%
Polymetal International (POLY) 615.00p 3.54%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Just Eat (JE.) 337.70p -1.89%
Victrex plc (VCT) 1,421.00p -1.80%
Paragon Group Of Companies (PAG) 305.30p -1.55%
Ibstock (IBST) 211.00p -1.40%
Millennium & Copthorne Hotels (MLC) 389.70p -1.19%
Britvic (BVIC) 686.50p -1.08%
Rightmove (RMV) 3,900.00p -0.99%
PayPoint (PAY) 754.00p -0.92%
Spire Healthcare Group (SPI) 318.90p -0.90%
Wetherspoon (J.D.) (JDW) 687.00p -0.72%