London open: Stocks edge higher; UK consumer confidence improves

(Sharecast News) - London stocks edged higher in early trade on Friday following a positive close on Wall Street, amid hopes a deal will be reached to avert a US debt default. At 0820 BST, the FTSE 100 was up 0.3% at 7,762.90.

Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor, said: "Growing optimism for a resolution to the debt ceiling negotiations lifted sentiment, although the mood was slightly tempered by question marks over the Federal Reserve's next move on interest rates.

"The mood music from the politicians involved in brokering a deal to raise the debt ceiling and avoid an unthinkable US default was more positive, with investors reacting with cautious optimism until such time as a deal is finalised."

On home shores, a survey out earlier showed that consumer confidence continued to recover in May despite record-high food prices.

GfK's consumer confidence index printed at -27, up three points from April.

Within that, all individual measures were higher on the month. The index of expectations for personal finances over the coming year ticked up five points from April to -8 in May. The gauge for expectations for personal finances over the past 12 months rose one point to -20.

The index for the general economic situation over the next year came in at -30.0 in May, up from -34.0 a month earlier, while the same index but for the situation over the last 12 months rose one point to -54.0.

The major purchase index edged up four points to -24 and the savings measure was flat on the month in May at 19.0.

In equity markets, heavily-weighted miners were the standout gainers, with Anglo American, Rio Tinto, Glencore and Antofagasta all up.

Smiths Group rallied as it lifted revenue guidance after a strong third quarter, driven by volume and price growth. Organic revenue was up 13.4% for the nine months to April 30, leading Smiths to increase 2023 guidance to around 10% organic revenue growth with "moderate" margin improvement.

St James's Place was boosted by an upgrade to 'outperform' from 'sector perform' at RBC Capital Markets, while online fashion retailer Asos gained after an upgrade to 'buy' from 'neutral' at Citi.

On the downside, drinks company C&C Group tumbled after it said chief executive David Forde had decided to step down and announced a €25m hit from problems implementing a system upgrade in its Matthew Clark and Bibendum (MCB) businesses in the UK.

The Bulmers and Magners owner said it had "encountered significant challenges" in the system changes at MCB.

"The implementation process has taken longer and been significantly more challenging and disruptive than originally envisaged, with a consequent material impact on service and profitability within MCB," it added.

Ladbrokes owner Entain was in the red following a report it is nearing a deal to buy London-based pricing and analytics company Angstrom Sports.

Vanquis Banking edged down as it said that chairman Patrick Snowball plans to step down from the board this year.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,762.90 0.27% FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,323.59 0.13% techMARK (TASX) 4,698.04 0.11%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Anglo American (AAL) 2,373.50p 1.93% Rio Tinto (RIO) 5,010.00p 1.50% St James's Place (STJ) 1,140.00p 1.33% Frasers Group (FRAS) 784.00p 1.10% Glencore (GLEN) 439.85p 1.05% Smiths Group (SMIN) 1,721.00p 0.97% Melrose Industries (MRO) 495.00p 0.96% Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,422.00p 0.85% SSE (SSE) 1,852.50p 0.84% BP (BP.) 484.55p 0.83%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Burberry Group (BRBY) 2,336.00p -2.22% Entain (ENT) 1,459.50p -1.12% Whitbread (WTB) 3,276.00p -0.82% Rentokil Initial (RTO) 640.00p -0.62% InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 5,392.00p -0.59% Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 4,314.00p -0.55% JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 171.70p -0.55% Centrica (CNA) 116.20p -0.51% National Grid (NG.) 1,102.50p -0.50% GSK (GSK) 1,416.80p -0.49%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 270.80p 4.15% Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 166.80p 2.99% Network International Holdings (NETW) 375.00p 2.74% ASOS (ASC) 465.00p 2.54% Ashmore Group (ASHM) 238.80p 2.49% Vesuvius (VSVS) 420.80p 2.43% Renishaw (RSW) 3,876.00p 2.43% Ibstock (IBST) 170.90p 2.34% Playtech (PTEC) 640.00p 2.15% Darktrace (DARK) 283.50p 1.94%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Senior (SNR) 172.40p -4.86% Jupiter Fund Management (JUP) 118.00p -2.40% International Distributions Services (IDS) 204.60p -2.06% Ferrexpo (FXPO) 102.50p -1.54% Vietnam Enterprise Investments (DI) (VEIL) 540.00p -1.28% PureTech Health (PRTC) 205.00p -1.20% Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 3,076.00p -1.19% Mitie Group (MTO) 92.50p -1.18% 4Imprint Group (FOUR) 4,650.00p -1.17% FirstGroup (FGP) 115.60p -1.03%