London open: Stocks steady as investors eye G20; Kingfisher rallies on CEO appointment
London stocks were steady in early trade on Thursday as investors erred on the side of caution ahead of the upcoming G20 meeting.
At 0830 BST, the FTSE 100 was flat at 7,414.34, while the pound was up 0.1% against the dollar and the euro at 1.2700 and 1.1167, respectively.
CMC Markets analyst David Madden said: "The G20 summit which kicks off tomorrow is on traders’ minds.
"On Saturday, the meeting between China’s Xi Jinping and Donald Trump could determine the next big move in global equity markets. The Huawei ban and the question of intellectual property protection are likely to be sticking points from the US side."
In equity markets, B&Q and Castorama owner Kingfisher was sitting pretty at the top of the FTSE 100 as it appointed Thierry Garnier - the chief executive officer of Carrefour Asia - as its new CEO.
Shares in Serco rallied after the outsourcer said 2019 revenue is expected to be at the top end of its guidance range of £2.9bn to £3bn, thanks in part to strong order intake.
Greene King shares fizzed higher as the pub operator's full-year profit came in ahead of expectations, although revenue was a small miss.
Premier Oil gushed higher after saying it had "significantly" increased its resource estimate for the Zama field offshore Mexico.
Fashion retailer Superdry edged up after saying it was delaying the release of its annual results from the 4th to the 10th of July, following changes to its accounts related to store leases.
On the downside, Hiscox was in the red as it announced the retirement of chief underwriting officer Richard Watson, while Hunting ticked lower even as it said it was trading in line with management views and was comfortable with the current full-year market consensus.
Meanwhile, ex-dividends knocked 6.4 points off the FTSE 100 and 2.3 points off the 250, with British American Tobacco, British Land, Burberry, Experian and JD Sports all in the frame.
In broker note action, Metro Bank was upgraded to 'buy' at Investec, while Standard Charted was cut to 'sell'. Rio Tinto was downgraded to 'market perform' at BMO and Senior was cut to 'equalweight' at Barclays.
B&M European Value Retail was lifted to 'overweight' at JPMorgan.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,414.34 -0.03%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,293.30 0.17%
techMARK (TASX) 3,617.99 -0.07%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Kingfisher (KGF) 211.70p 2.87%
Next (NXT) 5,620.00p 2.44%
ITV (ITV) 107.10p 2.29%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 209.60p 1.70%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 456.60p 1.60%
NMC Health (NMC) 2,403.00p 1.56%
Smith (DS) (SMDS) 363.60p 1.51%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 179.35p 1.47%
TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 748.40p 1.38%
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 221.00p 1.33%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Rightmove (RMV) 537.20p -3.03%
Croda International (CRDA) 5,180.00p -1.99%
British Land Company (BLND) 527.80p -1.79%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 2,765.50p -1.55%
Experian (EXPN) 2,364.00p -1.29%
SEGRO (SGRO) 725.40p -1.04%
Severn Trent (SVT) 2,042.00p -1.02%
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,572.20p -0.95%
Hiscox Limited (DI) (HSX) 1,680.00p -0.94%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 6,143.00p -0.94%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Serco Group (SRP) 143.40p 5.60%
Premier Oil (PMO) 81.38p 4.01%
B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 329.70p 3.58%
Royal Mail (RMG) 207.00p 3.34%
Syncona Limited NPV (SYNC) 229.87p 3.08%
Metro Bank (MTRO) 511.00p 2.94%
FirstGroup (FGP) 100.30p 2.50%
Bakkavor Group (BAKK) 117.83p 2.46%
Man Group (EMG) 156.70p 2.28%
Sirius Minerals (SXX) 14.33p 1.97%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Senior (SNR) 218.20p -5.46%
Plus500 Ltd (DI) (PLUS) 554.60p -3.18%
Provident Financial (PFG) 410.70p -1.84%
PPHE Hotel Group Ltd (PPH) 1,800.00p -1.64%
Tate & Lyle (TATE) 733.20p -1.53%
Capital & Counties Properties (CAPC) 218.10p -1.40%
Pennon Group (PNN) 740.60p -1.20%
Derwent London (DLN) 3,090.00p -1.15%
Future (FUTR) 956.00p -1.14%
Acacia Mining (ACA) 177.41p -1.11%