London open: Stocks rise as investors eye US inflation data

(Sharecast News) - London stocks rose in early trade on Wednesday following a positive close on Wall Street, as investors eyed the latest US inflation data. At 0845 BST, the FTSE 100 was up 0.2% at 7,299.70.

Sophie Lund-Yates, lead equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "US annual inflation is expected to drop back to 3.1% for June, which would mark a twelfth consecutive decline. Some of the decline can be taken as a reaction from the very high-base starting point, following food and energy price spikes at the same time last year. More important will be the core inflation number, which is expected to be running at around 5%.

"While the direction of travel is very much the right one, bringing core inflation closer to earth remains the main mission. That's increasingly likely to culminate in further interest rate hikes from the Federal Reserve, despite a brief cooling in policy seen recently. The expected inflation slowdown, coupled with the UK's banks passing stress testing, has seen the FTSE 100 open up 27 points. Sentiment across Europe is more upbeat too."

The US consumer price index for June is due at 1330 BST.

In equity markets, banks rallied after the Bank of England said that eight major institutions had passed annual capital stress tests and were well positioned to support households and businesses through a period of rising interest rates. The lenders were Barclays, Lloyds, HSBC, NatWest, Santander UK, Standard Chartered, Nationwide Building Society and Virgin Money.

Pub chain JD Wetherspoon was a high riser as it held annual profit guidance as sales in the last 10 weeks of its final quarter rose 11%. Compared to full-year 2022, like-for-like sales increased by 11.5% in the fourth quarter to date and by 12.9% in the year to date.

Building materials distributor and DIY retailer Grafton gained after it held annual guidance as first-half revenues rose 3.2% despite the cost-of-living crisis hitting volumes. The company said revenue for the six months to June 30 was £1.19bn compared with £1.15bn in the prior year.

Recruiter PageGroup edged up despite posting a decline in second-quarter profit amid ongoing challenging trading conditions.

On the downside, BA owner IAG was knocked lower by a downgrade to 'hold' from 'buy' at Deutsche Bank, while Bunzl was under the cosh after a downgrade to 'underperform' from 'sector perform' by RBC Capital Markets.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,299.70 0.24% FTSE 250 (MCX) 18,149.56 0.05% techMARK (TASX) 4,304.03 -0.03%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 44.37p 2.31% Centrica (CNA) 123.45p 1.77% Barclays (BARC) 152.46p 1.73% Informa (INF) 721.20p 1.29% Pearson (PSON) 828.80p 1.20% Glencore (GLEN) 442.05p 1.14% Beazley (BEZ) 561.00p 1.08% NATWEST GROUP (NWG) 237.70p 1.06% Legal & General Group (LGEN) 228.60p 0.97% Standard Chartered (STAN) 670.40p 0.96%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 155.05p -3.24% Bunzl (BNZL) 2,795.00p -2.75% Endeavour Mining (EDV) 1,825.00p -1.24% Flutter Entertainment (CDI) (FLTR) 15,245.00p -1.23% Intertek Group (ITRK) 3,969.00p -1.10% Spirax-Sarco Engineering (SPX) 9,850.00p -0.87% Fresnillo (FRES) 608.40p -0.78% Croda International (CRDA) 5,600.00p -0.67% Rentokil Initial (RTO) 586.80p -0.61% Burberry Group (BRBY) 2,035.00p -0.59%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Wetherspoon (J.D.) (JDW) 690.00p 4.15% Currys (CURY) 52.95p 3.82% Grafton Group Ut (CDI) (GFTU) 791.20p 3.79% Virgin Money UK (VMUK) 151.05p 3.42% IntegraFin Holding (IHP) 234.40p 2.09% ICG Enterprise Trust (ICGT) 1,118.00p 2.01% Lancashire Holdings Limited (LRE) 607.50p 1.93% Elementis (ELM) 107.00p 1.90% Redde Northgate (REDD) 348.00p 1.61% Man Group (EMG) 239.10p 1.53%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Target Healthcare Reit Ltd (THRL) 70.50p -3.82% easyJet (EZJ) 483.00p -2.42% Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 2,662.00p -1.84% PureTech Health (PRTC) 216.00p -1.82% Sirius Real Estate Ltd. (SRE) 85.00p -1.56% Ibstock (IBST) 138.60p -1.49% Scottish American Inv Company (SAIN) 503.00p -1.37% Vanquis Banking Group 20 (VANQ) 187.00p -1.06% Ashmore Group (ASHM) 208.60p -1.04% Tritax Big Box Reit (BBOX) 127.30p -1.01%