London open: Stocks rise but gains muted after China data disappoints

(Sharecast News) - London stocks were up in early trade on Monday but gains were muted as investors mulled disappointing Chinese data. At 0900 BST, the FTSE 100 was up 0.2% at 7,518.86.

Figures released earlier by the National Bureau of Statistics showed that retail sales rose 2.7% in July on the year, coming in well below analyst expectations of 4.9% growth and down from 3.1% in June.

Meanwhile industrial production was up 3.8% in July following a 3.9% jump in June and missing expectations for a 4.3% increase.

Fixed asset investment rose 5.7% from July 2021 following 6.1% in June and versus expectations for 6.2% growth.

On home shores, a survey from Rightmove showed that house prices dropped in August for the first time this year.

The average asking price fell 1.3% on the month to £365,173. Annual growth slowed to 8.2% in August from 9.3% in July.

Tim Bannister, Rightmove's director of Property Science, said: "A drop in asking prices is to be expected this month, as the market returns towards normal seasonal patterns after a frenzied two years, and many would-be home movers become distracted by the summer holidays. Indeed, for those that can, this may be their first summer holiday abroad since before the pandemic.

"Sellers who want or need to move quickly at this time of year tend to price competitively in order to find a suitable buyer fast, with some hoping to complete their move in time to enjoy Christmas in a new home. To achieve that this year, they'd need to beat the current average time between accepting an offer and completing the sale of four and a half months.

"Nevertheless, we're still expecting price changes for the rest of the year to continue to follow the usual seasonal pattern, which means we'll end year at around 7% annual growth, even with the wider economic uncertainty."

In equity markets, RS Group - formerly Electrocomponents - surged after The Times reported over the weekend that it could be the subject of a takeover bid. It pointed to speculation of a possible £15 a share bid, which is a significant premium to the present share price and above the £12.35 high it hit last November before worries about a recession kicked in.

Drugmaker AstraZeneca was in the black after it said that its Enhertu drug, jointly produced with Japan's Daiichi Sankyo, had been proven to offer statistically significant and clinically meaningful progression-free survival amongst breast cancer patients.

On the downside, insurer Phoenix Group was a little weaker despite saying it had delivered a record first-half performance and upping its dividend.

Trainline slumped after a downgrade to 'neutral' at JPMorgan.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,518.86 0.24% FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,356.94 0.09% techMARK (TASX) 4,397.96 0.49%

FTSE 100 - Risers

RS Group (RS1) 1,152.00p 5.88% AstraZeneca (AZN) 10,940.00p 2.13% Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 1,560.00p 1.79% Pershing Square Holdings Ltd NPV (PSH) 2,765.00p 1.65% Dechra Pharmaceuticals (DPH) 3,606.00p 1.07% Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,064.00p 0.95% Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 920.00p 0.92% British American Tobacco (BATS) 3,352.50p 0.86% Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 2,038.00p 0.79% Bunzl (BNZL) 3,141.00p 0.74%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 4,034.00p -1.05% Endeavour Mining (EDV) 1,765.00p -1.01% Aveva Group (AVV) 2,428.00p -0.98% Phoenix Group Holdings (PHNX) 674.20p -0.97% Rio Tinto (RIO) 4,797.50p -0.96% Schroders (SDR) 2,996.00p -0.86% GSK (GSK) 1,438.20p -0.81% Anglo American (AAL) 2,941.00p -0.74% Mondi (MNDI) 1,693.00p -0.70% Auto Trader Group (AUTO) 655.00p -0.58%

FTSE 250 - Risers

888 Holdings (DI) (888) 148.50p 4.06% HGCapital Trust (HGT) 412.00p 2.36% Caledonia Investments (CLDN) 3,840.00p 1.86% Moneysupermarket.com Group (MONY) 219.80p 1.76% 4Imprint Group (FOUR) 3,910.00p 1.56% Spirent Communications (SPT) 280.00p 1.45% Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 2,389.00p 1.40% Hipgnosis Songs Fund Limited NPV (SONG) 117.00p 1.39% Worldwide Healthcare Trust (WWH) 3,465.00p 1.32% Genus (GNS) 2,790.00p 1.31%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Trainline (TRN) 365.80p -3.51% Darktrace (DARK) 413.10p -3.12% Hochschild Mining (HOC) 81.65p -2.62% Auction Technology Group (ATG) 923.00p -1.91% Carnival (CCL) 779.20p -1.89% Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 534.00p -1.87% Capricorn Energy (CNE) 234.60p -1.68% Ashmore Group (ASHM) 232.40p -1.36% Domino's Pizza Group (DOM) 270.60p -1.17% Centamin (DI) (CEY) 93.80p -1.14%