London open: Stocks edge down amid inflation, recession woes

(Sharecast News) - London stocks edged lower in early trade on Wednesday amid worries about inflation and a global slowdown, as investors eyed the Jackson Hole symposium. At 0830 BST, the FTSE 100 was down 0.3% at 7,467.66.

Susannah Streeter, senior investment and markets analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "Caution is the name of the game on equity markets with expectations that aggressive policies to tame roaring inflation will continue despite fresh signs that the US economy is slowing.

"The dramatic fall in the S&P Global composite PMI in August highlighted how demand was falling for the US services sector in particular as supply chain snarl ups, inflationary pressures and interest rate hikes took their toll. The ultimate impact of this drop in demand should be deflationary but it's not clear how far and how fast these trends will feed through to lower headline prices.

"The data sparked a squally session on Wall Street as investors assessed the darker clouds gathering over the US economy, and signals from central bank policymakers that more rate hikes were ahead to try and ensure the inflation storm subsides. There are expectations that the chair of the Federal Reserve Jerome Powell will underline that message at annual central bank gathering at Jackson Hole, Wyoming on Friday. The FTSE 100 has retreated at the open amid a fresh round of risk off sentiment and worries about the prospects for global trade."

Corporate news was thin on the ground as the summer lull finally kicked in.

Flexible workspace provider IWG was in the red as it announced the appointment of Charlie Steel as its news chief financial officer, succeeding Glyn Hughes. Steel joins IWG from Babylon Holdings, a digital health delivery and AI diagnosis business.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,467.66 -0.27% FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,281.80 -0.13% techMARK (TASX) 4,221.24 -0.27%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Pershing Square Holdings Ltd NPV (PSH) 2,685.00p 1.51% Harbour Energy (HBR) 429.10p 1.25% Smith (DS) (SMDS) 273.60p 1.00% BAE Systems (BA.) 803.60p 0.83% Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 815.20p 0.72% Dechra Pharmaceuticals (DPH) 3,442.00p 0.70% British American Tobacco (BATS) 3,444.00p 0.60% Reckitt Benckiser Group (RKT) 6,624.00p 0.45% 3i Group (III) 1,228.00p 0.45% Admiral Group (ADM) 2,234.00p 0.40%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Rio Tinto (RIO) 4,983.50p -1.22% HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 525.50p -1.09% Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,762.00p -0.98% Howden Joinery Group (HWDN) 595.60p -0.96% Halma (HLMA) 2,145.00p -0.92% Ashtead Group (AHT) 4,290.00p -0.90% BT Group (BT.A) 155.70p -0.89% Spirax-Sarco Engineering (SPX) 10,500.00p -0.85% SEGRO (SGRO) 968.00p -0.82% Intertek Group (ITRK) 4,116.00p -0.65%

FTSE 250 - Risers

TR Property Inv Trust (TRY) 390.00p 4.00% Elementis (ELM) 113.20p 2.72% Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 492.00p 2.71% Caledonia Investments (CLDN) 3,620.00p 1.69% Henderson Smaller Companies Inv Trust (HSL) 868.00p 1.52% Hammerson (HMSO) 22.23p 1.51% TBC Bank Group (TBCG) 1,770.00p 1.49% Drax Group (DRX) 742.00p 1.37% HGCapital Trust (HGT) 360.00p 1.27% Ibstock (IBST) 189.50p 1.23%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Bytes Technology Group (BYIT) 406.80p -3.97% AJ Bell (AJB) 297.80p -3.44% Dr. Martens (DOCS) 230.00p -2.95% TP Icap Group (TCAP) 155.20p -2.94% Bodycote (BOY) 544.50p -2.59% JTC (JTC) 734.00p -2.52% Serco Group (SRP) 175.00p -2.18% Volution Group (FAN) 346.00p -2.12% Auction Technology Group (ATG) 815.00p -2.04% Renishaw (RSW) 3,742.00p -1.99%