London open: Stocks nudge up as investors mull borrowing figures

At 0850 GMT, the FTSE 100 was up 0.1% at 7,380.48.

Figures released earlier by the Office for National Statistics showed that public sector borrowing more than doubled in November, fuelled by government intervention on soaring energy bills and cost of living payments.

Public sector net borrowing excluding banks (PSNB ex) was a record £22.0bn last month, well above both November 2021's £8.1bn and consensus expectations of £13bn.

It was also the highest November borrowing since monthly records began in 1993.

Victoria Scholar, head of investment at Interactive Investor, said: "The government’s energy support measures created a sharp increase in borrowing. This more than offset a year-on-year rise in tax receipts driven by inflation which has pushed up the price of goods in the UK economy.

"However as the UK economy heads towards a recession, the public purse could suffer a slowdown in tax revenue as businesses and consumers decelerate, which could result in higher public sector borrowing. The Chancellor tried to offset some of these pressures in the Autumn Statement with difficult fiscal choices including spending cuts and tax increases."

In equity markets, JD Sports Fashion jumped to the top of the FTSE 100 on positive read-across from Nike’s second-quarter numbers, which saw shares in the US sportswear firm surge after-hours.

Ferrexpo gained after saying it was now receiving sufficient levels of power to bring one iron ore pelletiser line in central Ukraine back into operation, allowing it to meet the requirements of existing customer contracts.

Bunzl was weaker, however, despite saying that full-year revenues were set to jump, bolstered by high inflation and acquisitions.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,380.48 0.13%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 18,651.69 0.58%
techMARK (TASX) 4,330.00 0.16%

FTSE 100 - Risers

JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 122.10p 7.81%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 645.00p 3.76%
Frasers Group (FRAS) 738.50p 2.36%
Kingfisher (KGF) 232.00p 2.07%
B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 413.80p 1.65%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 130.00p 1.60%
Convatec Group (CTEC) 228.60p 1.60%
Unite Group (UTG) 900.00p 1.58%
British Land Company (BLND) 389.20p 1.51%
Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 844.00p 1.47%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,499.00p -1.28%
Glencore (GLEN) 541.00p -1.28%
BAE Systems (BA.) 841.20p -1.17%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 616.60p -0.74%
Bunzl (BNZL) 2,804.00p -0.57%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 3,297.50p -0.51%
Beazley (BEZ) 655.50p -0.38%
Imperial Brands (IMB) 2,059.00p -0.34%
Rentokil Initial (RTO) 511.60p -0.27%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 11,098.00p -0.25%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Molten Ventures (GROW) 350.00p 3.24%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 67.00p 3.24%
ASOS (ASC) 520.00p 2.56%
IWG (IWG) 153.35p 2.54%
Dr. Martens (DOCS) 179.00p 2.46%
Marshalls (MSLH) 274.20p 2.39%
Warehouse Reit (WHR) 105.40p 2.33%
LondonMetric Property (LMP) 174.90p 2.28%
JPMorgan Indian Investment Trust (JII) 844.00p 2.18%
Future (FUTR) 1,246.00p 2.13%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

PureTech Health (PRTC) 257.50p -5.33%
CLS Holdings (CLI) 145.40p -2.02%
Edinburgh Worldwide Inv Trust (EWI) 171.00p -1.38%
Balanced Commercial Property Trust Limited (BCPT) 85.90p -1.38%
Vietnam Enterprise Investments (DI) (VEIL) 576.00p -1.37%
Henderson Smaller Companies Inv Trust (HSL) 802.00p -1.11%
Apax Global Alpha Limited (APAX) 185.60p -1.07%
Syncona Limited NPV (SYNC) 180.00p -0.88%
Virgin Money UK (VMUK) 178.85p -0.72%
Baltic Classifieds Group (BCG) 133.20p -0.60%