London open: Stocks edge higher in early trading

(Sharecast News) - Stocks edged into the green in the early going with investors apparently opting to sit on their hands ahead of key economic data overseas due out after the close of trading in London.

Worth noting, most trading desks, both in the UK and across the Channel, were likely nearly empty ahead of the Christmas holidays, so trading volumes were expected to be low.

As of 0912 GMT, London's top-flight index was up by 0.06% to 7,474.03, while the second-tier index was gaining 0.12% to 18,784.22.

Holidays notwithstanding, key US economic indicators were scheduled for release later in the day.

At 1330 GMT, the US Department of Commerce was expected to announce that the year-on-year rate of increase for the price deflator for core personal consumption expenditures slipped from 5.0% in October to 4.6% in November.

Shortly afterwards, at 1500 GMT, the University of Michigan was set to release the results for its closely followed consumer confidence survey covering the month of December.

Overnight, the annual rate of increase for Japanese consumer prices was reported at 3.8% for November, versus 3.7% for the month before (consensus: 3.9%).

Bluefield Solar goes shopping Stateside

UK renewables income fund Bluefield Solar has bought a 46.4 megawatt solar portfolio from North America's Fengate Asset Management.

Bluefield said the enterprise value of the portfolio is £56m, including the economic benefit of all cashflows from May 2022. The portfolio contains £27.3m of long-term amortising debt provided by Australian private equity outfit Macquarie.

Auto distributor Inchcape said Peruvian authorities had cleared its planned £1.3bn takeover of Derco, with completion of the deal expected to take place by the end of the year.

Plastic technology group Symphony Environmental warned on Friday that full-year losses looked set to widen year-on-year as multiple issues weighed on revenues throughout the period. The company said full-year losses were pegged to have widened to £2.5m from £1.4m, with group revenue expected to be approximately £6.5m, down from £9.2m a year earlier, following a "soft first half of the year".