London open: Stocks in the red ahead of ECB announcement; sterling holds up
London stocks fell in early trade on Thursday despite positive cues from Wall Street, as investors kept an eye out for the latest policy announcement from the European Central Bank and any Brexit-related headlines.
At 0835 GMT, the FTSE 100 was down 0.4% to 6,817.66, while the pound was off 0.2% against the dollar at 1.3046 and 0.1% firmer versus the euro at 1.1491, having hit 10-week highs the day before.
The ECB is expected to keep monetary policy unchanged later, so attention will turn to President Mario Draghi's press conference.
"There is little doubt that Draghi will hit a dovish tone in the press conference as he highlights economic developments are weaker than expected with global risks still prominent," said London Capital Group analyst Jasper Lawler. "Should the ECB reduce its inflation forecasts and Draghi focus his speech on weaker growth and increasing risks, investors will quickly push back hopes of a rate rise."
The ECB rate announcement is at 1245 GMT and the press conference is at 1330 GMT.
On home shores, sterling was being underpinned by news that the Labour party is moving towards supporting a law that would delay Brexit and comments from senior figures in the French and German governments suggesting that they would be open to extending the deadline.
Meanwhile, trade relations between the US and China remained on investors' minds as the Chinese commerce ministry said that there would be in-depth talks between the two on economic and trade issues during Chinese Vice Premier Liu He’s US visit next week.
In corporate news, Anglo American was lower as it reported a 7% increase in total production on a copper equivalent basis for the fourth quarter of 2018, compared to the same period in 2017, excluding the effect of the stoppage at Minas-Rio.
Online gaming provider 888 Holdings was also in the red as it said chief operating officer Itai Pazner has been promoted to chief executive officer.
Countryside Properties lost ground as the housebuilder and urban regenerator posted a 28% increase in first-quarter completions, mostly thanks to a boost from affordable housing.
Restaurant Group, which completed the acquisition of Wagamama in December, was also weaker as it reported a 2% dip in 2018 like-for-like sales but said it expects to deliver profit in line with market expectations.
On the upside, equipment rental firm Ashtead was the standout gainer on the top-flight index following well-received earnings from US rival United Rentals overnight.
Wealth manager St James's Place was in the green even as it said inflows slowed in the final months of the year as it saw challenging market conditions squeeze funds under management.
Premier Oil gushed higher on the back of positive results from a well appraisal offshore Mexico.
Just Eat rallied after an upgrade to 'overweight' at JPMorgan, but Reckitt Benckiser was knocked lower by a downgrade to 'underperform' at Jefferies and Crest Nicholson slumped after a downgrade to 'neutral' from 'buy' at Redburn. Auto Trader was down after a cut to 'add' at Peel Hunt.
Elsewhere, Games Workshop, Pennon and Stagecoach were among the companies whose stock went ex-dividend.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 6,817.66 -0.37%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 18,571.50 -0.06%
techMARK (TASX) 3,362.14 -0.49%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Ashtead Group (AHT) 1,901.50p 1.68%
St James's Place (STJ) 953.20p 1.25%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 629.70p 1.24%
GVC Holdings (GVC) 677.41p 1.18%
Centrica (CNA) 132.35p 0.91%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 822.60p 0.81%
3i Group (III) 817.80p 0.64%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 290.00p 0.62%
Next (NXT) 4,829.00p 0.60%
Whitbread (WTB) 4,933.00p 0.59%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Rentokil Initial (RTO) 330.10p -3.14%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 5,638.00p -2.52%
Vodafone Group (VOD) 146.00p -2.18%
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 2,969.00p -1.39%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,778.80p -1.22%
Auto Trader Group (AUTO) 450.40p -1.21%
Wood Group (John) (WG.) 517.40p -1.00%
Fresnillo (FRES) 878.40p -0.99%
Compass Group (CPG) 1,608.50p -0.98%
NMC Health (NMC) 2,674.00p -0.96%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Metro Bank (MTRO) 1,396.00p 3.79%
Premier Oil (PMO) 70.46p 3.24%
Just Eat (JE.) 669.40p 2.70%
TI Fluid Systems (TIFS) 158.68p 1.65%
Derwent London (DLN) 3,072.00p 1.45%
NewRiver REIT (NRR) 213.00p 1.43%
Baillie Gifford Japan Trust (BGFD) 733.00p 1.38%
Herald Investment Trust (HRI) 1,195.96p 1.35%
JPMorgan Japanese Inv Trust (JFJ) 378.00p 1.34%
Great Portland Estates (GPOR) 723.90p 1.33%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
SIG (SHI) 114.50p -5.06%
Crest Nicholson Holdings (CRST) 338.40p -4.78%
Acacia Mining (ACA) 178.00p -3.26%
Apax Global Alpha Limited (APAX) 144.00p -3.03%
Card Factory (CARD) 176.10p -2.71%
TBC Bank Group (TBCG) 1,458.00p -2.54%
Contour Global (GLO) 176.90p -2.16%
Primary Health Properties (PHP) 112.80p -2.08%
John Laing Group (JLG) 346.62p -1.92%
Stagecoach Group (SGC) 156.94p -1.91%