London open: FTSE jumps past 8,000 as Centrica surges

(Sharecast News) - London's FTSE 100 jumped past 8,000 in early trade on Thursday, having breached that level for the first time a day earlier, with Centrica pacing the gains after bumper results. At 0840 GMT, the FTSE 100 was up 0.3% at 8,021.46, as worries about a global recession receded following better-than-expected US retail sales data.

Looking ahead to the rest of the day, CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson said the focus will shift to US PPI numbers for January "and a confirmation that supply chain and factory gate costs are also easing sharply".

"This seems more likely given that freight costs have fallen back and are continuing to do so, and energy costs have also come down. Final demand PPI is expected to fall from 6.2% in December to 5.4%, while core PPI is expected to drop from 5.5% to 4.9%," he said.

In equity markets, British Gas owner Centrica surged as it said annual profits more than tripled to a record £3.3bn, driven by soaring wholesale gas prices in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, as Britons struggle with household energy bills.

Standard Chartered rallied after it announced a new $1bn share buyback as annual profits rose by almost a third on higher global interest rates, but still missed estimates.

Upper Crust owner SSP was a little weaker even after it backed its full-year guidance and hailed a strong start to the year, with revenues ahead of pre-pandemic levels, amid a further recovery in the travel industry.

Indivior tumbled after saying it swung to a loss in 2022 as it booked a $290m exceptional provision related to certain multidistrict antitrust class and state claims, and $6m to settle a dispute over reimbursement of legal costs with a supplier.

Moneysupermarket was also sharply lower despite posting a rise in full-year pre-tax profits.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 8,021.46 0.30% FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,225.34 0.26% techMARK (TASX) 4,634.32 0.54%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Centrica (CNA) 103.15p 4.66% Relx plc (REL) 2,523.00p 3.06% Vodafone Group (VOD) 101.92p 2.72% Standard Chartered (STAN) 748.80p 2.69% Melrose Industries (MRO) 147.45p 1.65% Prudential (PRU) 1,325.00p 1.61% BT Group (BT.A) 140.25p 1.41% Flutter Entertainment (CDI) (FLTR) 13,280.00p 1.37% Rio Tinto (RIO) 6,117.00p 1.33% Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 113.48p 1.32%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Imperial Brands (IMB) 1,992.00p -2.97% Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 4,173.00p -1.88% Barclays (BARC) 171.58p -0.59% Pearson (PSON) 915.40p -0.59% Persimmon (PSN) 1,441.50p -0.59% Convatec Group (CTEC) 233.40p -0.51% Shell (SHEL) 2,567.00p -0.47% British American Tobacco (BATS) 3,135.50p -0.44% BP (BP.) 557.30p -0.43% Barratt Developments (BDEV) 466.40p -0.36%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Bank of Georgia Group (BGEO) 2,880.00p 5.88% FDM Group (Holdings) (FDM) 842.00p 5.12% Baltic Classifieds Group (BCG) 153.40p 3.79% Drax Group (DRX) 689.00p 3.53% JTC (JTC) 755.00p 3.14% Hunting (HTG) 335.00p 2.76% Scottish American Inv Company (SAIN) 522.00p 2.35% IWG (IWG) 189.80p 2.29% Syncona Limited NPV (SYNC) 173.80p 2.24% Fidelity Emerging Markets Limited Ptg NPV (FEML) 644.60p 2.07%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Indivior (INDV) 1,695.00p -13.25% Moneysupermarket.com Group (MONY) 215.40p -8.50% LXI Reit (LXI) 115.20p -1.37% NextEnergy Solar Fund Limited Red (NESF) 110.20p -1.08% Murray Income Trust (MUT) 876.00p -0.90% Tritax Eurobox (GBP) (EBOX) 70.20p -0.85% Pets at Home Group (PETS) 376.00p -0.79% SSP Group (SSPG) 267.40p -0.78% Warehouse Reit (WHR) 107.00p -0.74% Network International Holdings (NETW) 277.60p -0.72%