London open: Stocks edge lower as investors mull GDP

(Sharecast News) - London stocks edged lower in early trade on Monday as investors digested the latest UK GDP data and looked ahead to a week filled with key central bank announcements. At 0850 GMT, the FTSE 100 was down 0.3% at 7,455.86.

Figures released earlier by the Office for National Statistics showed the economy returned to growth in October but the UK is still heading for recession.

The economy grew 0.5% in October following a 0.6% contraction in September, when it took a hit from the funeral of Queen Elizabeth. This was a touch ahead of economists' expectations for 0.4% growth.

In the three months to October, however, the economy shrank by 0.3%, versus expectations of a 0.4% contraction. This marked the biggest decline since early 2021.

Susannah Streeter, senior investment and markets analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said the monthly rise in GDP is likely to have been more of a temporary upswing rather than the start of a more positive chapter for the economy.

"A rebound in services largely accounted for the lift, after many companies scaled back promotional events, and workers had a bank holiday for the monarch's funeral in September. However, production remains flat and while construction grew by 1.1%, more recent data indicates that sentiment in the building sector soured in November," she said.

"Caution is in the air in financial markets ahead of a series of crunch central bank meetings around the world this week, with yet more interest rate hikes set to be unwrapped as inflation remains stubborn," Streeter said.

"The Bank of England is still expected to raise rates though on Thursday by 0.5%, despite the fragility in the economy which is showing through so starkly as inflationary pressures stay so elevated."

In equity markets, online supermarket Ocado was the worst performer on the top-flight index.

International Distribution Services also slumped after a downgrade to 'hold' at HSBC and as a string of Royal Mail strikes were set to take place.

On the upside, London Stock Exchange Group surged to the top of the FTSE 100 after Microsoft agreed to buy a 4% stake in the company as part of 10-year strategic partnership for next-generation data and analytics and cloud infrastructure solutions.

Wood Group also rallied after an upgrade to 'buy' at Jefferies.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,455.86 -0.28% FTSE 250 (MCX) 18,826.45 -0.47% techMARK (TASX) 4,396.99 -0.02%

FTSE 100 - Risers

London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) 7,700.00p 3.97% Centrica (CNA) 93.42p 1.28% Haleon (HLN) 318.15p 1.13% BAE Systems (BA.) 832.60p 0.85% SSE (SSE) 1,708.50p 0.74% 3i Group (III) 1,347.50p 0.71% Spirax-Sarco Engineering (SPX) 11,045.00p 0.45% United Utilities Group (UU.) 1,038.50p 0.44% GSK (GSK) 1,462.80p 0.34% Severn Trent (SVT) 2,748.00p 0.29%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Ocado Group (OCDO) 651.20p -5.10% Anglo American (AAL) 3,112.00p -2.45% Airtel Africa (AAF) 115.30p -2.29% Frasers Group (FRAS) 765.00p -2.24% Unite Group (UTG) 908.50p -2.10% British Land Company (BLND) 388.70p -1.99% Fresnillo (FRES) 856.60p -1.99% Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 221.90p -1.99% Next (NXT) 5,730.00p -1.98% Endeavour Mining (EDV) 1,692.00p -1.86%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Wood Group (John) (WG.) 133.10p 5.01% JTC (JTC) 770.00p 1.85% Drax Group (DRX) 613.50p 1.57% Paragon Banking Group (PAG) 518.50p 1.57% Man Group (EMG) 218.40p 1.49% The Renewables Infrastructure Group Limited (TRIG) 130.00p 1.40% Monks Inv Trust (MNKS) 994.50p 1.22% Ruffer Investment Company Ltd Red PTG Pref Shares (RICA) 314.50p 0.96% Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 1,493.00p 0.81% HarbourVest Global Private Equity Limited A Shs (HVPE) 2,160.00p 0.70%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

International Distributions Services (IDS) 203.00p -4.52% Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 154.20p -3.90% TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 140.25p -3.41% ASOS (ASC) 566.50p -3.16% Syncona Limited NPV (SYNC) 176.00p -3.08% Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 119.55p -2.84% Home Reit (HOME) 45.15p -2.69% Carnival (CCL) 637.80p -2.63% Liontrust Asset Management (LIO) 1,012.00p -2.50% IP Group (IPO) 57.00p -2.40%