London open: Shares edge ahead as investors eye PMIs

(Sharecast News) - UK stocks opened higher on Wednesday as investors eyed PMI data in the eurozone and US and the latest minutes from the Federal Reserve for any hints on the path of interest rates. The FTSE 100 was up 0.15% after a strong Tuesday session where shares kicked off 2023 with a 1.4% gain. Sentiment was slightly tempered by a fall in US shares overnight.

Oil edged lower after slumping in the previous session, weighed down by concerns about weak demand due to the state of the global economy and China's rising Covid cases.

Brent futures for March delivery fell 43 cents to $81.67 a barrel, a 0.5% loss, by 0700 GMT. US crude dropped 39 cents, or 0.5%, to $76.54 per barrel. Both benchmarks plunged more than 4% on Tuesday, with Brent suffering its biggest one-day loss in more than three months. The news hit FTSE 100 heavyweights Shell & BP, while lower gas prices saw British Gas owner Centrica and SSE fall for the second successive day.

There was no major corporate news to drive trade, but the latest British Retail Consortium-NielsenIQ tracker, revealed that food inflation rose to 13.3% in December, from 12.4% a month earlier.

The BRC warned 2023 would be "another difficult year for consumers and businesses as inflation shows no immediate signs of waning".

"Retailers will continue to work hard to support their customers and keep prices low. However, further high investment in prices may no longer be viable once the government's energy bill support scheme for business expires in April," said BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson.

Separate data from Kantar showed the impact of inflation on take-home grocery sales, which hit £12.8bn for the four weeks to 25 December 2022, driven by higher prices rather than increased spending.

In equity news, low-cost airline Ryanair reported a 21% rise in passenger numbers for December as travel rebounded from the Covid pandemic.

Ryanair said it carried 11.5 million passengers compared with 9.5 million a year earlier. On a rolling basis, Ryanair said 160.4m passengers flew its routes in 2022, up 121%.

The December load factor was up 11% to 92% year on year.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,563.75 0.13% FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,182.11 0.25% techMARK (TASX) 4,447.19 0.42%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Burberry Group (BRBY) 2,134.00p 3.24% Fresnillo (FRES) 917.20p 1.73% Auto Trader Group (AUTO) 529.20p 1.69% Experian (EXPN) 2,869.00p 1.59% Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 106.30p 1.58% Prudential (PRU) 1,195.00p 1.53% Intertek Group (ITRK) 4,147.00p 1.37% Beazley (BEZ) 677.00p 1.35% Relx plc (REL) 2,338.00p 1.34% Diageo (DGE) 3,656.50p 1.22%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

BP (BP.) 469.40p -2.89% Shell (SHEL) 2,303.50p -2.68% Glencore (GLEN) 535.80p -1.58% Melrose Industries (MRO) 134.60p -1.28% Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 97.68p -1.24% Centrica (CNA) 91.00p -1.02% SSE (SSE) 1,652.00p -0.69% BAE Systems (BA.) 858.00p -0.49% Anglo American (AAL) 3,266.50p -0.02% Ashtead Group (AHT) 4,801.00p 0.02%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Baltic Classifieds Group (BCG) 149.00p 3.04% Currys (CURY) 58.50p 2.90% Spirent Communications (SPT) 272.80p 2.79% UK Commercial Property Reit Limited (UKCM) 61.50p 2.33% TI Fluid Systems (TIFS) 140.60p 2.33% 888 Holdings (DI) (888) 89.95p 2.16% Pagegroup (PAGE) 485.00p 2.06% Supermarket Income Reit (SUPR) 104.00p 1.96% Virgin Money UK (VMUK) 190.80p 1.84% Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 1,930.00p 1.69%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Harbour Energy (HBR) 285.20p -2.66% Tullow Oil (TLW) 35.50p -2.31% Vesuvius (VSVS) 399.00p -2.25% Energean (ENOG) 1,255.00p -2.11% Wood Group (John) (WG.) 138.45p -1.91% Urban Logistics Reit (SHED) 136.00p -1.81% Auction Technology Group (ATG) 766.00p -1.79% National Express Group (NEX) 130.60p -1.66% IWG (IWG) 166.40p -1.54% Dr. Martens (DOCS) 193.00p -1.53%