London open: Stocks retreat from five-month high, Hargreaves Lansdown falls

The FTSE 100 was down 0.2% at 6,857 early on, as strong gains from Sky and a host of pharmaceutical stocks were outweighed by falls from Hargreaves Lansdown and commodity shares.

The index jumped on Tuesday to finish at 6,871.80, its highest close since 4 September 2014 when it settled at 6,878. The Footsie is now within a whisker of its record closing level of 6,930 reached in December 1999.

Greece’s new prime minister Alexis Tsipras is set to present his proposal for a debt swap to EU Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker in Brussels.

Markets have more or less welcomed the plan which backed down from calling for a total debt write-off and instead proposed swapping outstanding debt for new growth-linked bonds.

It will be a busy day for economic data, with services purchasing managers’ indices (PMIs) out in China, the Eurozone, UK and US, along with euro-area retail sales figures and the ADP employment report Stateside.

Data already released showed slowing service-sector growth in China with the HSBC services PMI falling from 53.4 to 51.8.

Sky impresses, Hargreaves Lansdown underwhelms

In its first set of results since slimming down its name to Sky and absorbing its German and Italian sister companies, the satellite broadcaster delivered a strong set of interim figures and cited good momentum in all its markets, causing shares to rise early on.

Pharma stocks were also performing well early on, including Astrazeneca, Glaxosmithkline and Shire. Healthcare outsourcer Synergy Health gained after saying it was on track to hit full-year forecasts as growth momentum picked up strongly in the third quarter.

Half-yearly results from fund manager and savings outfit Hargreaves Lansdown showed record assets under administration and growing client numbers, though shares fell sharply after most figures came in shy of City expectations. Analysts Shore Capital said: “The figures show a slight improvement on a very quiet Q1 but will still require a further uptick in H2 to meet full year consensus.”

Oil stocks were pulling back after a strong showing on Tuesday with Tullow Oil, BP and Shell providing a drag as the recent rally in crude prices faltered. Mining companies were also out of favour including BHP Billiton Rio Tinto and Fresnillo.

Market Movers
techMARK 3,073.45 +0.36%
FTSE 100 6,856.55 -0.22%
FTSE 250 16,543.88 -0.16%

FTSE 100 - Risers
Sky (SKY) 958.50p +1.64%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 1,077.00p +1.22%
Admiral Group (ADM) 1,485.00p +1.16%
ARM Holdings (ARM) 1,049.00p +1.16%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 4,690.50p +1.06%
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,468.00p +1.03%
Shire Plc (SHP) 4,948.00p +0.98%
Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 187.80p +0.97%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 921.60p +0.72%
TUI AG Reg Shs (Post- 16/12/14)(DI) (TUIJ) 1,140.00p +0.71%

FTSE 100 - Fallers
Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 991.00p -5.17%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 409.60p -1.87%
Carnival (CCL) 2,893.00p -1.40%
Fresnillo (FRES) 868.50p -1.31%
Intertek Group (ITRK) 2,398.00p -1.28%
Persimmon (PSN) 1,570.00p -1.26%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,540.00p -1.19%
BG Group (BG.) 934.00p -1.16%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,156.50p -1.15%
Weir Group (WEIR) 1,809.00p -1.15%

FTSE 250 - Risers
AL Noor Hospitals Group (ANH) 918.00p +1.94%
esure Group (ESUR) 239.40p +1.87%
Millennium & Copthorne Hotels (MLC) 572.00p +1.78%
Rank Group (RNK) 180.00p +1.69%
Lancashire Holdings Limited (LRE) 620.00p +1.56%
Playtech (PTEC) 712.50p +1.50%
Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 1,045.00p +1.46%
Afren (AFR) 12.00p +1.35%
Brewin Dolphin Holdings (BRW) 293.60p +1.28%
Just Retirement Group (JRG) 137.00p +1.26%

FTSE 250 - Fallers
Moneysupermarket.com Group (MONY) 253.70p -4.01%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 424.10p -2.55%
Game Digital (GMD) 268.00p -2.55%
Indivior (INDV) 173.90p -2.08%
Redefine International (RDI) 56.00p -2.01%
Ladbrokes (LAD) 121.70p -1.85%
Allied Minds (ALM) 428.50p -1.83%
Redrow (RDW) 284.90p -1.76%
Polymetal International (POLY) 591.00p -1.50%
IMI (IMI) 1,351.00p -1.46%