London open: Stocks edge down ahead of busy week

(Sharecast News) - London stocks edged lower in early trade on Monday as investors eyed the latest policy announcement from the US Federal Reserve later in the week and a raft of corporate updates. At 0905 BST, the FTSE 100 was down 0.3% at 7,256.16.

Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor, said: "The latest Federal Reserve decision on interest rates will be announced on Wednesday, with the likelihood of a further 0.75% hike very much baked into the cake. There is also the release of the second-quarter US GDP number, which could show another negative reading.

"With a packed corporate calendar ahead, including results from the likes of Apple, Amazon, Meta Platforms, Microsoft and Alphabet, the indices have been unable to shake off recessionary fears. In the year to date, the Dow Jones is down by 12%, the S&P500 by 17% and the Nasdaq by 24%.

"Nor is the earnings reporting pace slowing in the UK, with numbers expected from the likes of Shell and Unilever, as well as updates from Lloyds Banking, Barclays, Standard Chartered and NatWest. For the banks, eyes will be on whether any credit quality deterioration is being experienced and, of equal importance, whether the banks will be setting aside further cautionary provisions after beginning a new trend at the firs-quarter numbers. More positively, the banks are expected to remain awash with capital, providing the possibility of further shareholder returns either through buybacks or additional dividend payments."

In equity markets, oil giants Shell and BP gushed lower as oil prices fell.

Telecoms group Vodafone dipped as it reported a rise in first-quarter revenues, driven by growth in the UK, but reported a fall in Germany, its biggest market.

On the upside, molten metal flow engineer Vesuvius surged after saying that full-year trading profit was set to be towards to the top of the range of analyst expectations following better-than-expected trading in May and June.

Ferrexpo was boosted by an upgrade to 'outperform' at Credit Suisse, while Oxo and Mr Kipling owner Premier Foods also rallied after agreeing to buy Asian meal kits and accompaniments brand The Spice Tailor for an initial £43.8m in cash.

Airtel Africa gained after its Kenyan subsidiary bought 60-megahertz of additional spectrum for $40m as part of an effort to support its 4G network capacity expansion in the market for both mobile data and fixed wireless home broadband capabilities.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,256.16 -0.28% FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,750.19 -0.38% techMARK (TASX) 4,386.00 -0.11%

FTSE 100 - Risers

BT Group (BT.A) 181.35p 2.34% Airtel Africa (AAF) 167.20p 1.52% GSK (GSK) 1,763.40p 1.16% Standard Chartered (STAN) 579.40p 1.15% National Grid (NG.) 1,115.50p 1.09% AstraZeneca (AZN) 10,852.00p 0.80% HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 519.10p 0.76% Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 1,723.00p 0.70% Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,735.50p 0.58% NATWEST GROUP PLC ORD 100P (NWG) 226.40p 0.58%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Entain (ENT) 1,148.00p -2.71% Endeavour Mining (EDV) 1,582.00p -2.29% JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 138.75p -2.22% BP (BP.) 374.85p -2.20% Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 815.20p -1.95% Flutter Entertainment (CDI) (FLTR) 8,120.00p -1.88% Abrdn (ABDN) 158.70p -1.79% Shell (SHEL) 2,005.50p -1.67% Prudential (PRU) 987.00p -1.55% Intermediate Capital Group (ICP) 1,404.50p -1.47%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Vesuvius (VSVS) 345.40p 6.93% Ferrexpo (FXPO) 139.10p 4.90% 4Imprint Group (FOUR) 3,215.00p 3.21% Premier Foods (PFD) 116.20p 2.83% Beazley (BEZ) 534.50p 2.39% Dr. Martens (DOCS) 274.40p 1.55% Royal Mail (RMG) 295.30p 1.55% Volution Group (FAN) 392.50p 1.42% Drax Group (DRX) 753.00p 1.41% Mitie Group (MTO) 72.70p 1.25%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Wood Group (John) (WG.) 147.05p -3.48% Rathbones Group (RAT) 1,854.00p -3.13% Bridgepoint Group (Reg S) (BPT) 230.60p -2.95% Edinburgh Worldwide Inv Trust (EWI) 189.00p -2.78% 888 Holdings (DI) (888) 152.10p -2.62% Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 471.30p -2.54% Darktrace (DARK) 368.80p -2.43% Centamin (DI) (CEY) 79.28p -2.34% Jupiter Fund Management (JUP) 139.40p -2.31% Carnival (CCL) 676.00p -2.31%