London open: Stocks edge lower ahead of key US earnings

(Sharecast News) - London stocks edged lower in early trade on Thursday amid ongoing concerns about a global slowdown, as investors eyed key earnings across the pond from the likes of JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley. At 0840 BST, the FTSE 100 was down 0.2% at 7,139.10.

CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson said: "With bond markets increasingly pricing economic slowdown equity markets are struggling to make sense of what comes next when it comes to valuations, with the first test coming later today with JPMorgan Chase Q2 earnings numbers.

"The second puzzle to navigate is how many more rate hikes are coming down the pipe before we see central banks cutting rates again."

On home shores, market participants were mulling the latest Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors Residential Market Survey, which showed that house prices continued to grow in June, but at a slower pace than previously seen.

A net balance of 65% of respondents reported an increase in house prices. That remains well above the long-run average of 13%, although it is down on both April's high of 78% and May's 73%.

Surging inflation has seen the Bank of England increase the cost of borrowing five times since December. Yet despite that, and the cost-of-living crisis, house prices have been broadly supported by a lack of supply, despite a softening in demand.

RICS found that new properties being listed for sale remained largely unchanged in June, while new buyer enquiries fell for the third successive month, with -27% of respondents reporting a fall in interest from would-be buyers,

The volume of sales also dipped in June, with -13% reporting a fall in newly agreed sales. A balance of -9% anticipated a fall in transactions in the coming months; 37% expect prices to continue rising over the next year.

Simon Rubinsohn, chief economist at RICS, said: "Pricing across much of the housing market remains resilient for now, with a shortage of stock continuing to be a feature highlighted by many respondents to the survey.

"Although buyer enquiries have predictability slipped a little of late, this needs to be placed in the context of the healthy level of demand in previous months."

In equity markets, Barratt Developments fell after it said annual profits were on track to beat forecasts following buoyant demand for new homes, but warned over rising build costs.

Peers Taylor Wimpey and Berkeley also lost ground, although Redrow bucked the trend after announcing a £100m share buyback.

Playtech tumbled after TTB Partners said it wouldn't be making a bid for the company due to "challenging underlying market conditions".

Ashmore and SSP were also in the red after trading updates.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,139.10 -0.24% FTSE 250 (MCX) 18,680.28 -0.17% techMARK (TASX) 4,278.17 -0.16%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Pershing Square Holdings Ltd NPV (PSH) 2,505.00p 2.66% Centrica (CNA) 86.16p 2.13% Entain (ENT) 1,096.00p 1.25% Flutter Entertainment (CDI) (FLTR) 7,690.00p 1.00% Melrose Industries (MRO) 159.20p 0.82% Airtel Africa (AAF) 151.30p 0.73% Experian (EXPN) 2,588.00p 0.70% Reckitt Benckiser Group (RKT) 6,452.00p 0.69% Severn Trent (SVT) 2,857.00p 0.67% JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 124.35p 0.65%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Admiral Group (ADM) 2,271.00p -3.81% Barratt Developments (BDEV) 448.70p -3.55% Fresnillo (FRES) 669.60p -2.19% Abrdn (ABDN) 151.55p -1.69% Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 113.70p -1.30% Ocado Group (OCDO) 803.80p -1.13% Rio Tinto (RIO) 4,738.50p -1.12% Schroders (SDR) 2,666.00p -1.11% Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 3,784.00p -1.07% Anglo American (AAL) 2,657.00p -1.04%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Hipgnosis Songs Fund Limited NPV (SONG) 112.20p 3.70% Darktrace (DARK) 345.10p 2.46% Bankers Inv Trust (BNKR) 101.60p 2.01% Auction Technology Group (ATG) 920.00p 2.00% Micro Focus International (MCRO) 273.80p 1.60% Redrow (RDW) 499.60p 1.54% Virgin Money UK (VMUK) 132.85p 1.37% Carnival (CCL) 667.60p 1.31% Trainline (TRN) 370.60p 1.28% Wetherspoon (J.D.) (JDW) 584.50p 1.21%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Playtech (PTEC) 447.60p -13.26% Ashmore Group (ASHM) 194.70p -5.02% Ninety One (N91) 187.20p -4.20% CMC Markets (CMCX) 276.00p -4.00% Direct Line Insurance Group (DLG) 227.40p -3.81% SSP Group (SSPG) 228.60p -3.54% Volution Group (FAN) 339.50p -2.02% Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 1,751.00p -1.77% Oxford Instruments (OXIG) 1,948.00p -1.62% Telecom Plus (TEP) 2,050.00p -1.44%