London open: Stocks edge up ahead of Sunak announcement

(Sharecast News) - London stocks edged higher in early trade on Thursday as investors awaited an announcement form Chancellor Rishi Sunak, who is expected to unveil a cost-of-living support package amid surging energy bills. At 0855 BST, the FTSE 100 was up 0.2% at 7,537.16, making tentative gains after stocks on Wall Street closed higher as the latest minutes from the Federal Reserve met expectations.

CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson said: "The package, which it is said is expected to be in the region of £10bn, is also likely to be a welcome distraction for the government in the wake of the furore over the Sue Gray report over gatherings and parties at Number 10 and the Cabinet Office.

"The big question is how it will be paid for, with speculation that we could see the announcement of a windfall tax of some description, in a move that while politically popular, could have wider unexpected and negative consequences further down the line, when it comes to encouraging business to invest in the UK.

"It would also be seen as a political win for the opposition parties who have been campaigning for such a move for weeks now.

"Either way it would be the latest example of a government reacting to events, rather than shaping them."

In equity markets, Intermediate Capital was the top gainer on the FTSE 100 after it said total full-year assets under management jumped 26% in what it called a "defining" year.

Auto Trader was a high riser after the digital car sales platform said it had almost doubled annual profits as more customers spent online making purchases.

Government contractor Serco surged as it lifted its full-year guidance following better-than-expected trading in the first four months of the year.

On the downside, BT slumped as it emerged the government will examine French billionaire Patrick Drahi's stake 18% stake in the telecoms company amid concerns about national security.

United Utilities also fell as it posted a drop in full-year underlying pre-tax profit and pledged not to increase average household bills for 2022/23 despite rapidly rising inflation.

Transact owner IntegraFin was on the back foot, with analysts pointing to a downbeat outlook in the company's first-half results.

Petrofac gushed lower after a disappointing update, in which it said it was experiencing near-term headwinds on some engineering, procurement and construction contracts.

Johnson Matthey lost ground after saying it expects its full-year operating performance to be in the lower half of the consensus range.

JD Sports was weaker again, having tumbled into the close on Wednesday after it took the market by surprise and announced the departure of executive Peter Cowgill.

Elsewhere, Imperial Brands, Intertek, Sage and RHI Magnesita were all in the red as they traded without entitlement to the dividend.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,537.16 0.19% FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,974.48 0.20% techMARK (TASX) 4,400.60 0.10%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Intermediate Capital Group (ICP) 1,544.00p 5.86% Auto Trader Group (AUTO) 576.40p 1.84% Abrdn (ABDN) 192.85p 1.58% Tesco (TSCO) 259.00p 1.45% Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,590.50p 1.37% RS Group (RS1) 908.50p 1.34% Shell (SHEL) 2,406.50p 1.18% WPP (WPP) 915.60p 1.15% Compass Group (CPG) 1,764.00p 1.15% 3i Group (III) 1,249.00p 1.05%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

United Utilities Group (UU.) 1,059.00p -4.81% BT Group (BT.A) 182.50p -3.90% DCC (CDI) (DCC) 5,568.00p -2.49% SSE (SSE) 1,831.00p -1.95% Intertek Group (ITRK) 4,603.00p -1.69% National Grid (NG.) 1,208.50p -1.51% Sage Group (SGE) 656.60p -1.41% Imperial Brands (IMB) 1,817.00p -1.33% Ocado Group (OCDO) 760.00p -1.25% Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 1,733.50p -1.14%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Serco Group (SRP) 167.10p 9.36% Baltic Classifieds Group (BCG) 140.40p 5.25% Discoverie Group (DSCV) 768.00p 4.92% FirstGroup (FGP) 124.60p 4.36% LondonMetric Property (LMP) 256.20p 3.31% Pagegroup (PAGE) 451.80p 2.96% Darktrace (DARK) 361.50p 2.61% SSP Group (SSPG) 264.30p 2.52% Provident Financial (PFG) 262.00p 2.50% Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 628.40p 2.35%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

IntegraFin Holding (IHP) 313.40p -10.30% Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 2,235.00p -4.93% RHI Magnesita N.V. (DI) (RHIM) 2,310.00p -4.39% Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 148.00p -4.21% Drax Group (DRX) 701.00p -2.23% Diversified Energy Company (DEC) 121.10p -2.10% Centamin (DI) (CEY) 84.02p -2.10% TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 184.50p -2.02% Balfour Beatty (BBY) 255.00p -2.00% Helios Towers (HTWS) 109.20p -1.89%