London open: Banks and Miners pace early gains

(Sharecast News) - Stocks are moving higher with investors sentiment buoyed by fresh bullish news around the artificial intelligence space, even as investors keep a wary eye on the ongoing budget standoff in Washington D.C.. According to some market commentary, the US federal government shutdown might extend until mid-October.

As of 0828 BST, the FTSE 100 is ahead by 0.35% to 9,461.18, with banks and miners pacing gains, alongside an advance of 0.32% for the second-tier index.

Michael Hartnett at BofA Global Research nevertheless sounded a cautious note on the market backdrop.

"These credit cracks a big deal, but not big enough to put top in right now [...] each of past 5 months monthly low for S&P 500 printed on 1st trading day of month...first time this has happened since 1928."

In parallel, COMEX gold futures are up by 0.44% to $3,885.20/oz on news that flights at Munich Airport had been suspended after a drone sighting.

Brent crude oil futures are up by 0.51% to $64.62 a barrel on the ICE ahead of an OPEC+ meeting at the weekend, but still headed for the largest weekly drop since mid-June.

Overnight, it was reported that Elon Musk's OpenAI had fetched a $500bn valuation as part of its latest funding deal.

That cemented its position as the most valuable privately-held company in the world.

And according to Bloomberg, Global Infrastructure Partners was in advanced negotiations to buy Aligned Data Centers for roughly $40bn, underscoring the massive amount of funds that is being channelled into the sector.

On the economic calendar for Friday, at 0930 BST consultancy S&P Global is scheduled to publish its services sector Purchasing Managers' Index for the UK covering the month of September.

A comparable survey is also due out in the US at 1500 BST.

S&P Global's euro area services PMI meanwhile has come in at 51.3 (Preliminary: 50.5), an eight month high, versus a reading of 50.5 for August.

Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey is due to deliver a speech a 1420 BST.

JD Wetherspoon anticipates "reasonable" FY outcome

JD Wetherspoon posted a full-yar rise in like-for-like sales of 5.1% with profit before tax ahead by 10.1% to £81.4m. Free cash inflow per share surged by 79.2% to 47.3p. However, the company reiterated that higher national insurance and labour rates would lead to cost increases of around £60m and energy costs a further £7m per year. The pub-owner opted to keep its dividend pay-out steady at 12.0p.

AIM-listed Big Technologies has announced the resignation of Alexander Brennan from its board following calls from shareholders to oust the non-executive chair. The company has faced fierce criticism following the sacking of former chief executive and founder Sara Murray in March over alleged forgery and the falsification of documents in the lead-up to the company's IPO.

Content solutions firm RWS Holdings announced on Friday that chief financial officer Candida Davies will step down from the role at the end of 2025. Davies will remain with the company to support a smooth transition and the reporting of full-year results. The board has initiated a search for her successor.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 9,427.73 0.00% FTSE 250 (MCX) 22,047.30 0.00% techMARK (TASX) 5,549.23 0.00%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Fresnillo (FRES) 2,372.00p 3.58% Diploma (DPLM) 5,430.00p 3.33% Schroders (SDR) 391.20p 3.06% Bunzl (BNZL) 2,446.00p 2.60% Anglo American (AAL) 2,816.00p 1.84% NATWEST GROUP (NWG) 535.80p 1.52% Melrose Industries (MRO) 638.20p 1.43% Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,463.00p 1.42% Barclays (BARC) 385.10p 1.26% Glencore (GLEN) 345.25p 1.22%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Tesco (TSCO) 446.90p -1.22% Flutter Entertainment (DI) (FLTR) 18,635.00p -0.75% Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 3,340.00p -0.65% GSK (GSK) 1,638.50p -0.52% Unilever (ULVR) 4,366.00p -0.41% BT Group (BT.A) 185.00p -0.38% Next (NXT) 12,395.00p -0.32% Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (DI) (CCEP) 6,560.00p -0.30% Reckitt Benckiser Group (RKT) 5,674.00p -0.28% Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 333.00p -0.24%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Rank Group (RNK) 140.00p 4.32% AJ Bell (AJB) 525.50p 3.04% Future (FUTR) 689.50p 2.83% Endeavour Mining (EDV) 3,138.00p 2.75% Hochschild Mining (HOC) 381.00p 2.64% Abrdn (ABDN) 204.80p 1.99% Jupiter Fund Management (JUP) 151.20p 1.89% Ashmore Group (ASHM) 183.50p 1.83% Man Group (EMG) 186.00p 1.81% Carnival (CCL) 1,996.50p 1.71%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Wetherspoon (J.D.) (JDW) 634.00p -4.66% SDCL Efficiency Income Trust (SEIT) 55.00p -3.34% Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) 150.50p -1.63% ITV (ITV) 78.30p -1.51% Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 84.85p -1.28% Patria Private Equity Trust (PPET) 555.00p -1.07% RHI Magnesita N.V. (DI) (RHIM) 2,055.00p -0.96% Discoverie Group (DSCV) 610.00p -0.81% Close Brothers Group (CBG) 487.80p -0.77% Anglo-Eastern Plantations (AEP) 1,370.00p -0.72%