London open: Stocks advance as investors look past Archegos collapse

At 0835 BST, the FTSE 100 was up 0.7% at 6,782.94.

Spreadex analyst Connor Campbell said: "Although Archegos uncertainties are still hanging over the markets, European investors felt settled enough to push the region’s indices higher on Tuesday.

"The FTSE was one of the stronger performers after the bell. With its key mining, oil and banking stocks all moving in the right direction." He noted the index hit a 12-day high of 6,785.

Despite the positive tone, Campbell cautioned: "There are dangers lurking to undermine these month-end gains. As occurred when February came to a close, bond yields are on the rise.

"And though the markets have broadly made their peace with that in recent weeks, it could still cause a record high-imperilling wobble. Similarly, just because markets appear to have moved on this morning, doesn’t mean the dust has settled on Archegos Capital’s collapse. That situation could still have some nasty surprises up its sleeve."

In corporate news, Royal Mail rallied after saying it would pay a one-off dividend and held full-year profits guidance as it outlined plans to more than double profits at its GLS parcels unit in the next five years. The letter and parcels delivery company will pay shareholders 10p a share in response to a surge in parcels deliveries from online shopping during the Covid pandemic. It added that annual group adjusted operating profit is still expected to be around £700m.

Cairn Energy pushed up even after it said India has appealed against an order by an international tribunal to pay $1.2bn damages to the company in a long-running tax dispute.

Entain was boosted by an upgrade to ‘overweigh’ at JPMorgan, but 888 was knocked lower by a downgrade to ‘neutral’ by the same outfit as it took a look at online gaming stocks.

Polymer maker Victrex gained after an upgrade to ‘neutral’ at Citi, which pointed to the first signs of volume growth "as many of its key end markets look to be through trough levels".

Imperial Brands ticked a little lower even after it backed its full-year guidance as it hailed a good start to the year, with market share growth in its five priority markets.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 6,782.94 0.69%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 21,550.02 0.53%
techMARK (TASX) 4,249.84 0.37%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Legal & General Group (LGEN) 282.50p 2.43%
HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 427.60p 2.27%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 708.70p 2.22%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 196.45p 2.21%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,687.50p 2.12%
British Land Company (BLND) 522.20p 2.07%
Barclays (BARC) 183.66p 1.82%
Whitbread (WTB) 3,478.00p 1.79%
Evraz (EVR) 571.60p 1.78%
Entain (ENT) 1,536.50p 1.75%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

AstraZeneca (AZN) 7,344.00p -0.68%
Bunzl (BNZL) 2,284.00p -0.61%
Rentokil Initial (RTO) 489.80p -0.53%
Severn Trent (SVT) 2,330.00p -0.51%
B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 530.20p -0.45%
Imperial Brands (IMB) 1,505.00p -0.43%
Experian (EXPN) 2,511.00p -0.40%
Next (NXT) 7,886.00p -0.30%
Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 1,097.00p -0.27%
Just Eat Takeaway.Com N.V. (CDI) (JET) 6,658.00p -0.21%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Hammerson (HMSO) 35.19p 5.08%
Just Group (JUST) 101.00p 3.80%
Victrex plc (VCT) 2,210.00p 3.76%
CMC Markets (CMCX) 491.00p 3.26%
Provident Financial (PFG) 216.40p 3.05%
Capital & Counties Properties (CAPC) 170.90p 2.70%
IP Group (IPO) 123.20p 2.67%
easyJet (EZJ) 962.40p 2.60%
Meggitt (MGGT) 478.70p 2.37%
Virgin Money UK (VMUK) 191.95p 2.32%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Cineworld Group (CINE) 100.50p -5.77%
Gamesys Group (GYS) 1,910.00p -3.05%
Pennon Group (PNN) 972.40p -2.07%
Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 940.00p -1.26%
XP Power Ltd. (DI) (XPP) 4,730.00p -1.05%
888 Holdings (888) 400.50p -0.99%
Jlen Environmental Assets Group Limited NPV (JLEN) 110.50p -0.90%
Bytes Technology Group (BYIT) 406.80p -0.78%
Morgan Sindall Group (MGNS) 1,752.00p -0.68%
Baillie Gifford US Growth Trust (USA) 298.00p -0.67%