London open: Stocks edge up ahead of US inflation reading; Ocado surges

(Sharecast News) - London stocks edged higher in early trade on Friday as investors eyed a key US inflation reading. At 0825 GMT, the FTSE 100 was up 0.3% at 9,737.24.

Emma Wall, chief investment strategist at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "The spectre hanging over global markets is the inflation print from the US, the Core PCE Price Index (personal consumption expenditure) which is expected to come in at 2.8%. The previous print for August year on year was 2.91%.

"Why does it matter? Those all-important interest rates, and the upcoming decision from the Fed committee next week. If the inflation print is hotter than expected, that could mean that the Fed holds rates - which would be bad news for stock markets. If inflation comes in as expected or - even better - below 2.8% that paves the way for a cut."

The PCE reading for September is due at 1330 GMT.

On home shores, the latest figures from Halifax showed that house price growth stalled in November in the run-up to the Budget.

House prices were flat on the month, having risen 0.5% in October. On the year, meanwhile, growth slowed to 0.7% last month from 1.9% in October. This was the weakest rate of growth since March 2024.

The average price of a house was £299,892 last month, versus £299,754 in October.

Amanda Bryden, head of mortgages at Halifax, said the slowdown in annual growth "largely reflects the base effect of much stronger price growth this time last year".

"This consistency in average prices reflects what has been one of the most stable years for the housing market over the last decade. Even with the changes to Stamp Duty back in spring and some uncertainty ahead of the Autumn Budget, property values have remained steady," she said.

"While slower growth may disappoint some existing homeowners, it's welcome news for first-time buyers. Comparing property prices to average incomes, affordability is now at its strongest since late 2015. Taking into account today's higher interest rates, mortgage costs as a share of income are at their lowest level in around three years.

"Looking ahead, with market activity steady and expectations of further interest rate reductions to come, we anticipate property prices will continue to grow gradually into 2026."

In equity markets, Ocado surged as it said US supermarket chain Kroger will pay it $350m in compensation for the closure of three warehouses. The payment also reflects Kroger's decision not to proceed with another customer fulfilment centre in Charlotte, North Carolina, one of the two planned CFCs due to go live in 2026.

Ocado earlier this month said Kroger's decision to fulfil online orders from its own stores in highly populated areas would cost it $50m in lost licensing fees.

Greggs shot higher as JPMorgan initiated coverage of the stock at 'overweight', highlighting significant re-rating potential.

Safety equipment and technology group Halma gained as it announced the £230m acquisition of E2S Group, a London-based manufacturer of industrial hazard detection devices.

On the downside, Big Yellow slumped after it said late on Thursday that it had ended takeover talks with Blackstone.

Blackstone announced in October that it was considering a potential takeover offer for the London-listed self-storage firm. Under UK takeover rules, it had until 8 December to either make a firm offer or walk away.

"Subsequently, Blackstone has provided to the board of Big Yellow today an update on the status of their evaluation of a possible offer and the valuation level at which it could make a proposal," Big Yellow said.

"The board considered this in the context of Big Yellow's strong performance, strategy and business model. It has concluded that there is no basis for continuing discussions with Blackstone."