London open: Stocks edge up despite US debt ceiling concerns

(Sharecast News) - Stocks were being buoyed at the start of the week by positive headlines around the ongoing debt ceiling talks in the US, although analysts were cautious .In remarks made overnight, Lael Brainard, the head of the US National Economic Council, said that talks thus far had been "serious" and "constructive", even as she added that a debt default would be "catastrophic" for the economy.

President Joe Biden was to meet the Republican speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy, on Tuesday, ahead of the former's departure on the following day for the G-7 summit in Japan.

"I remain optimistic because I'm a congenital optimist. But I really think there's a desire on their part as well as ours to reach an agreement and I think we'll be able to do it,

As of 0936 BST, the FTSE 100 was trading up by 0.30% to 7,777.56, while the second-tier index was 0.02% higher alongside at 19,191.80.

No major economic releases were scheduled in the UK, but Bank of England chief economist, Huw Pill, was due to deliver a speech at 1700 BST.

Across the Channel, at 1000 BST the European Commission would publish its latest set of economic forecasts for the bloc.

They would be followed at 1330 BST by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York's regional factory sector index.

Several top Fed officials were expected to deliver speeches or make remarks on Monday.

Apollo pulls Wood Group bid

US private equity firm Apollo Global on Monday pulled plans to make a takeover offer for UK oil industry engineer Wood Group. Apollo had made five approaches for the company and was had to table a firm bid or walk away by May 17. In response, the Wood board said it remained confident in its strategic direction and long-term prospects and believes that, "following a transformative year in 2022, including new executive leadership and a new strategy" the company was "well placed to deliver substantial value for shareholders".

Diploma posted a strong set of results for the first half of its financial year. Revenues were up ahead by 30% to £582.8m and by 10% on an organic basis. It also said that the back half had begun "positively", which led management to raise its full-year guidance. Full-year organic growth was now pegged to come in at 7%. That was on top of approximately another 7% rise in sales expected to accrue from acquisitions, net of disposals. In parallel, the company's leverage was seen declining to below 0.4 times before any acquisition investment.

UK electricals retailer Currys on Monday lifted its full-year earnings guidance after trading in the final two months of its fiscal year were better-than-expected. Adjusted pre-tax profit for the year to April 29 is now expected to come in at £110 - 120m compared with previous guidance of £104m, citing improved profits driven by continued gross margin improvements and management focus on cost efficiencies. It added that an in-year benefit from non-repeating mobile debtor revaluation had been higher than prior year and forecast.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,776.80 0.29% FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,187.48 0.00% techMARK (TASX) 4,723.39 0.15%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Endeavour Mining (EDV) 2,094.00p 2.05% Anglo American (AAL) 2,381.50p 1.88% Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,421.50p 1.75% Glencore (GLEN) 439.25p 1.60% Rio Tinto (RIO) 4,972.00p 1.11% Compass Group (CPG) 2,180.00p 1.07% BT Group (BT.A) 153.95p 1.02% HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 605.70p 1.00% Ashtead Group (AHT) 4,763.00p 0.98% NATWEST GROUP (NWG) 263.80p 0.96%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Ocado Group (OCDO) 434.10p -1.65% Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 146.85p -0.98% DCC (CDI) (DCC) 4,685.00p -0.72% Tesco (TSCO) 273.90p -0.65% Shell (SHEL) 2,395.00p -0.58% Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 799.60p -0.55% Admiral Group (ADM) 2,242.00p -0.53% Hiscox Limited (DI) (HSX) 1,164.00p -0.51% London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) 8,512.00p -0.49% Associated British Foods (ABF) 1,907.50p -0.42%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Currys (CURY) 59.15p 5.72% Trainline (TRN) 282.80p 5.60% Ithaca Energy (ITH) 160.80p 3.61% Premier Foods (PFD) 133.00p 3.26% CLS Holdings (CLI) 131.80p 2.81% Hipgnosis Songs Fund Limited NPV (SONG) 87.50p 2.46% Balanced Commercial Property Trust Limited (BCPT) 81.30p 2.39% Urban Logistics Reit (SHED) 137.00p 2.39% Diploma (DPLM) 2,918.00p 2.39% HGCapital Trust (HGT) 372.00p 2.34%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Wood Group (John) (WG.) 144.60p -33.97% ASOS (ASC) 450.00p -10.89% Tullow Oil (TLW) 23.04p -3.19% Wetherspoon (J.D.) (JDW) 739.50p -2.44% Hunting (HTG) 208.00p -2.12% Indivior (INDV) 1,455.00p -2.09% Helios Towers (HTWS) 90.45p -1.68% Grainger (GRI) 243.60p -1.62% Oxford Instruments (OXIG) 2,790.00p -1.59% Jupiter Fund Management (JUP) 121.10p -1.54%