London open: Stocks nudge up as investors mull retail sales; Flutter rallies
London stocks nudged up in early trade on Tuesday, with Paddy Power owner Flutter Entertainment riding high after well-received results, as investors mulled the latest retail sales data.
At 0850 BST, the FTSE 100 was up just 0.1% at 7,140.70.
Market participants were digesting the latest figures from the British Retail Consortium and KPMG, which showed retail sales growth eased in July. Total sales rose 6.4% over the month compared with July 2020, down from 10.4% growth in June.
BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson said: "July continued to see strong sales, although growth has started to slow. The lifting of restrictions did not bring the anticipated in-store boost, with the wet weather leaving consumers reluctant to visit shopping destinations.
"Online sales remained strong, and with weddings and other social events back on for the summer calendar, formalwear and beauty all began to see notable improvement, so fashion outlets in particular saw a bounce back to pre-pandemic levels. As many people prepare to return to the workplace, purchase of home office equipment began to fall after months of high sales, meanwhile other homeware, such as furniture and household appliances continued to do well."
In equity markets, Flutter Entertainment was sitting pretty at the top of the FTSE 100 after it said first-half earnings rose 75% as the gambling group benefited from the acquisition of Stars in the US. Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation increased to £597m from £342m in the six months to the end of June from a year earlier as revenue doubled to £3.05bn from £1.54bn.
Investment platform Hargreaves Lansdown was also on the rise, having tumbled a day earlier on the back of its full-year results.
Regus owner IWG was on the front foot after it said demand was strong as the flexible office group swung to a first-half loss after the Covid-19 crisis hit trading early in the period.
Elsewhere, InterContinental Hotels was a touch weaker despite saying it swung to a profit in the first half as trading recovered from the pandemic hit.
M&G was also in the red even as it posted a better-than-expected first-half adjusted operating profit.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,140.70 0.12%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 23,535.62 0.35%
techMARK (TASX) 4,655.64 0.44%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Flutter Entertainment (CDI) (FLTR) 13,670.00p 5.64%
Entain (ENT) 1,981.50p 2.51%
Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 1,486.00p 2.17%
Prudential (PRU) 1,440.50p 1.23%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RKT) 5,697.00p 1.19%
WPP (WPP) 979.00p 1.14%
Informa (INF) 513.00p 0.98%
ITV (ITV) 116.25p 0.91%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 175.75p 0.89%
Aveva Group (AVV) 3,997.00p 0.86%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
M&G (MNG) 235.60p -1.05%
BHP Group (BHP) 2,269.50p -0.94%
Anglo American (AAL) 3,283.00p -0.91%
HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 407.40p -0.82%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 108.36p -0.66%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 8,144.00p -0.62%
Experian (EXPN) 3,086.00p -0.55%
Vodafone Group (VOD) 118.74p -0.54%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 6,058.00p -0.53%
Bunzl (BNZL) 2,599.00p -0.50%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Frasers Group (FRAS) 629.00p 3.45%
Babcock International Group (BAB) 296.80p 3.31%
Dr. Martens (DOCS) 416.20p 2.56%
Watches of Switzerland Group (WOSG) 1,046.00p 2.15%
RIT Capital Partners (RCP) 2,715.00p 2.07%
Restaurant Group (RTN) 119.80p 2.04%
Oxford Instruments (OXIG) 2,530.00p 1.81%
Hammerson (HMSO) 36.90p 1.79%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 446.00p 1.73%
IWG (IWG) 324.80p 1.69%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
TI Fluid Systems (TIFS) 302.50p -2.42%
Indivior (INDV) 162.90p -2.04%
Bytes Technology Group (BYIT) 479.00p -1.24%
Avon Protection (AVON) 2,856.00p -1.04%
FirstGroup (FGP) 90.40p -0.99%
TR Property Inv Trust (TRY) 484.00p -0.82%
Alliance Trust (ATST) 1,006.00p -0.79%
Mediclinic International (MDC) 277.40p -0.79%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 96.90p -0.78%
OSB Group (OSB) 494.60p -0.76%