London open: Stocks fall as investors brace for big earnings

(Sharecast News) - London stocks fell in early trade on Monday, as investors continued to eye developments in the Middle East and looked ahead to a busy week on the earnings front. At 0845 BST, the FTSE 100 was down 0.3% at 7,382.70.

Victoria Scholar, head of investment at Interactive Investor, said: "European markets have opened mixed after a tough session for global indices on Friday with the Nasdaq shedding over 1.5%. Sentiment and risk appetite appear to have picked up slightly this morning with safe-haven gold retreating from five-month highs and oil prices easing thanks to diplomatic efforts in the Middle East.

"However, the FTSE 100 is still struggling, weighed down by miners like Fresnillo, Antofagasta, Glencore and Anglo American which are trading near the bottom of the UK blue chip basket. This is on the back of weakness in China with the CSI 300 hitting a more than four year low overnight."

Investors were bracing for a big week of earnings, with the likes of Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon and Meta Platforms all slated to report across the pond. In the UK, meanwhile, banks will be in focus, with Barclays kicking off the proceedings on Tuesday, while Lloyds, NatWest and Standard Chartered are also due to report.

In equity markets, Keller Group surged after it lifted its full-year earnings outlook following an "exceptionally strong" first-half performance.

Addiction treatment drug maker Indivior was also a high riser after saying it has agreed to pay $385m to resolve the final lawsuit claims against it in the long-running Suboxone anti-trust case. The company, which makes anti-opioid treatments, said it would also take a $228m charge in the third quarter, which will be excluded from adjusted earnings.

A trial that was scheduled to start on October 30 has been cancelled, Indivior said.

On the downside, Vistry slumped as the housebuilder reiterated its full-year profit guidance but said house sales had failed to pick up as expected. In an update for the third quarter, Vistry warned that private sales activity had remained "subdued, without the normal seasonal pick up since early September and increased use of incentives".

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,382.70 -0.26% FTSE 250 (MCX) 17,009.16 -0.14% techMARK (TASX) 4,024.36 -0.02%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Pershing Square Holdings Ltd NPV (PSH) 2,946.00p 1.59% Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 217.00p 1.26% Flutter Entertainment (CDI) (FLTR) 12,595.00p 1.16% CRH (CDI) (CRH) 4,532.00p 1.09% International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 139.35p 0.98% Kingfisher (KGF) 203.00p 0.89% Ocado Group (OCDO) 491.00p 0.88% Whitbread (WTB) 3,273.00p 0.83% B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 542.60p 0.82% Next (NXT) 6,886.00p 0.76%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Fresnillo (FRES) 540.40p -2.03% Rentokil Initial (RTO) 457.40p -1.46% Anglo American (AAL) 2,031.50p -1.43% SEGRO (SGRO) 691.80p -1.37% Vodafone Group (VOD) 74.70p -1.32% Glencore (GLEN) 429.95p -1.25% National Grid (NG.) 952.00p -1.24% Smurfit Kappa Group (CDI) (SKG) 2,544.00p -1.24% St James's Place (STJ) 619.40p -1.21% Entain (ENT) 922.60p -1.20%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Keller Group (KLR) 746.00p 10.85% Indivior (INDV) 1,615.00p 7.02% Tyman (TYMN) 246.00p 2.71% Ibstock (IBST) 126.60p 2.51% NCC Group (NCC) 103.60p 1.37% Mitie Group (MTO) 97.50p 1.35% International Public Partnerships Ltd. (INPP) 121.60p 1.33% Britvic (BVIC) 835.50p 1.21% FirstGroup (FGP) 148.50p 1.09% Abrdn Private Equity Opportunities Trust (APEO) 432.50p 1.05%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Vistry Group (VTY) 687.00p -5.24% Petershill Partners (PHLL) 142.40p -4.43% Ceres Power Holdings (CWR) 200.40p -2.72% TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 400.60p -2.58% Jupiter Fund Management (JUP) 78.50p -2.42% Future (FUTR) 825.00p -2.02% Safestore Holdings (SAFE) 658.50p -1.86% Centamin (DI) (CEY) 81.55p -1.75% Wood Group (John) (WG.) 136.30p -1.66% 888 Holdings (DI) (888) 84.00p -1.52%