London open: FTSE edges lower ahead of busy week

(Sharecast News) - London stocks edged lower in early trade on Monday as investors eyed a series of key central bank rate announcements this week. At 0830 GMT, the FTSE 100 was down 0.3% at 7,738.68.

Victoria Scholar, head of investment at Interactive Investor, said: "European markets have started the week on a negative note.

"Markets are trading cautiously ahead of a busy week for central banks with interest rate decisions from the Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank and the Bank of England. All three are expected to raise interest rates as their mission to curtail above target inflation continues."

In equity markets, Frasers Group was in the red following a report the company is planning to launch new financial services this year that will allow shoppers to buy its products on credit.

Legal & General fell it said that Sir Nigel Wilson was planning to retire after more than a decade as chief executive.

Gambling group 888 tumbled as it announced the departure of its chief executive, and said it was suspending some VIP accounts in the Middle East pending the outcome of an internal compliance investigation. Just weeks after announcing that chief financial officer Yariv Dafna had "mutually agreed" to step down from the business, 888 said CEO Itai Pazner is stepping down with immediate effect.

On the upside, Auto Trader was the top gainer on the FTSE 100 after an upgrade to 'overweight' at Barclays, while Moneysupermarket was also boosted by the same upgrade.

Consumer goods giant Unilever rose after announcing the appointment of Hein Schumacher as its new chief executive officer. Hein, who is currently CEO of the global dairy and nutrition business Royal FrieslandCampina, became a non-executive director of Unilever in October last year.

Elsewhere, Computacenter rallied after it said annual results would be slightly ahead of expectations following a record fourth quarter.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,738.68 -0.34% FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,943.68 -0.46% techMARK (TASX) 4,419.07 -0.20%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Auto Trader Group (AUTO) 611.80p 1.22% Unilever (ULVR) 4,044.00p 0.57% Vodafone Group (VOD) 93.74p 0.34% National Grid (NG.) 1,031.50p 0.34% BAE Systems (BA.) 854.20p 0.33% Haleon (HLN) 320.55p 0.33% Tesco (TSCO) 247.60p 0.28% GSK (GSK) 1,413.60p 0.26% Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 252.90p 0.16% F&C Investment Trust (FCIT) 955.00p 0.10%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Frasers Group (FRAS) 754.00p -2.20% Legal & General Group (LGEN) 256.20p -1.76% Endeavour Mining (EDV) 1,897.00p -1.71% Rentokil Initial (RTO) 494.70p -1.69% Standard Chartered (STAN) 700.60p -1.68% Prudential (PRU) 1,353.50p -1.31% Glencore (GLEN) 541.10p -1.30% InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 5,620.00p -1.20% Entain (ENT) 1,508.00p -1.11% St James's Place (STJ) 1,220.00p -1.09%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 175.00p 2.82% Computacenter (CCC) 2,040.00p 2.41% Currys (CURY) 68.30p 2.40% SSP Group (SSPG) 266.20p 2.27% Moneysupermarket.com Group (MONY) 231.80p 1.93% Dr. Martens (DOCS) 152.70p 1.80% CMC Markets (CMCX) 244.50p 1.24% Softcat (SCT) 1,205.00p 0.92% RIT Capital Partners (RCP) 2,040.00p 0.74% Assura (AGR) 56.75p 0.44%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Fidelity China Special Situations (FCSS) 293.00p -2.98% Oxford Instruments (OXIG) 2,225.00p -2.84% Darktrace (DARK) 244.70p -2.82% Bytes Technology Group (BYIT) 384.40p -2.68% Marshalls (MSLH) 335.00p -2.50% Blackrock Throgmorton Trust (THRG) 626.00p -2.49% Mitchells & Butlers (MAB) 157.40p -2.24% PureTech Health (PRTC) 247.00p -2.18% Ferrexpo (FXPO) 165.90p -2.12% Centamin (DI) (CEY) 111.50p -1.89%