London open: UK stocks rise ahead of FOMC meeting

Strong results from US blue chips Apple and Yahoo after the closing bell on Wall Street led to a higher open in London on Wednesday, as investors took an optimistic approach ahead of the Federal Reserve meeting.

The FTSE 100 was up 0.2% at 6,827 in early deals.

US markets finished with sharp losses on Tuesday after a barrage of disappointing corporate earnings and economic data, including figures which showed a 3.4% drop in durable goods orders.

However, Apple’s shares jumped after the close after the smartphone and tablet group reported a massive 30% year-on-year increase in quarterly sales to $74.6bn. It also posted a record quarterly net profit of $18bn.

Meanwhile, results from Yahoo were also welcomed by investors in after-hours trade, along with the announcement that it will spin-off its $40bn stake in Chinese ecommerce firm Alibaba.

As for Wednesday’s session, with little economic data on tap the focus will be on the outcome of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting at 19:00 with investors waiting for hints about when the US central bank will begin to hike interest rates.

With no press conference scheduled and no new projections expected, analysts at Danske Bank said the “focus will be on the tone of the statement”.

“We expect only small changes to the statement and most importantly we expect it to repeat that the FOMC can 'be patient in beginning to normalise the stance of monetary policy’,” they said.

Experian, Anglo and ARM rise

Credit-checking firm Experian was a high riser ahead of an investor seminar on Wednesday, at which it is expected to outline strategic and capital framework plans to “deliver annual average growth in organic revenue in the mid-single digit range”. The company also said it has the potential for “strong growth” in earnings per share.

Mining giant Anglo American impressed by meeting forecasts with its fourth-quarter output results with improvements in iron ore, coal and platinum and declines in copper, nickel and diamonds. However, sectors peers Fresnillo and Antofagasta were both lower after production updates.

Chip designer ARM Holdings was in positive territory after better-than-expected results from customer Apple showed strong demand for smartphones.

Third-quarter sales rose at Johnson Matthey but shares slumped after the chemicals group's underlying profits growth slowed due to continuing issues with Anglo American Platinum. The FTSE 100 group, which said full-year targets remained in line with expectations, said the £10m of losses in commission income from Anglo American Platinum prevented underlying profit before tax from growing at double-digit rates.

Business management software group Sage underwhelmed after saying it made a “solid start” to the new financial year and remains on track to hit its growth targets.

Severn Trent fell after saying it has cut its dividend for next financial year after accepting the final determination from the water industry regulator, but plans a £100m share buy-back programme to reduce its gearing ratio.

On the FTSE 250, oil producer Afren rebounded after a sharp plunge in its share price the previous session on the back of funding concerns.

techMARK 3,075.75 +0.41%
FTSE 100 6,827.32 +0.23%
FTSE 250 16,417.22 +0.39%

FTSE 100 - Risers
Experian (EXPN) 1,205.00p +3.43%
Weir Group (WEIR) 1,676.00p +2.20%
ARM Holdings (ARM) 1,052.00p +2.04%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,111.00p +1.93%
Mondi (MNDI) 1,195.00p +1.79%
SABMiller (SAB) 3,492.00p +1.63%
GKN (GKN) 373.50p +1.22%
Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 1,085.00p +1.02%
Severn Trent (SVT) 2,172.00p +0.98%
Capita (CPI) 1,103.00p +0.91%

FTSE 100 - Fallers
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 3,308.00p -5.40%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 671.50p -3.17%
Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 193.30p -2.62%
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 2,670.00p -1.98%
Sage Group (SGE) 475.60p -1.74%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 364.80p -1.43%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 931.20p -1.11%
Royal Mail (RMG) 435.40p -1.09%
Fresnillo (FRES) 900.50p -1.04%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 5,545.00p -0.89%

FTSE 250 - Risers
Afren (AFR) 7.00p +40.00%
Serco Group (SRP) 161.70p +3.45%
Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 713.00p +3.33%
Cranswick (CWK) 1,400.00p +3.17%
Intermediate Capital Group (ICP) 495.00p +2.91%
Fisher (James) & Sons (FSJ) 1,175.00p +2.89%
Poundland Group (PLND) 348.60p +2.50%
Barr (A.G.) (BAG) 645.00p +2.38%
Crest Nicholson Holdings (CRST) 388.50p +2.32%
Just Retirement Group (JRG) 138.70p +2.06%

FTSE 250 - Fallers
Zoopla Property Group (WI) (ZPLA) 182.60p -3.89%
Jimmy Choo (CHOO) 175.00p -2.23%
Rightmove (RMV) 2,392.00p -2.09%
Beazley (BEZ) 285.10p -1.69%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 405.70p -1.24%
Booker Group (BOK) 157.20p -1.19%
PZ Cussons (PZC) 313.80p -1.01%
Carillion (CLLN) 338.10p -0.88%
Northgate (NTG) 607.00p -0.82%
NMC Health (NMC) 496.00p -0.80%