London open: Stocks edge up as Shell rallies on results

(Sharecast News) - London stocks edged higher in early trade on Thursday as investors sifted through a raft of earnings from the likes of Shell and Lloyds, and eyed the latest policy announcement from the European Central Bank. At 0840 BST, the FTSE 100 was up 0.2% at 7,069.14.

Victoria Scholar, head of investment at Interactive Investor, said: "European markets have opened mostly lower with the FTSE 100 outperforming. Shell is at the top of the UK index thanks to upbeat third quarter earnings, while BP is also rallying in its slipstream. Meanwhile Unilever is in positive territory thanks to its latest results.

"Focus turns to the European Central Bank's rate decision at lunchtime which is expected to announce the second 75 basis point hike in a row as it looks to get to grips with inflation in the euro zone. In the US, investors will be looking for further signs of an economic slowdown stateside with the release of its latest GDP growth figures."

In equity markets, oil giant Shell was the standout performer on the top-flight index as it announced a $4bn share buyback and posted better-than-expected third-quarter profits.

Adjusted earnings rose to $9.5bn from $4.1bn in the third quarter a year earlier, but were down from the record $11.5bn posted in the second quarter of the year. Analysts had been expecting net earnings of $9bn.

BP also gained.

Unilever was trading just a smidgen higher after the consumer goods giant posted a 10.6% rise in third-quarter underlying sales growth and lifted its sales guidance for the year, but warned over the challenges of high inflation.

On the downside, Lloyds slid after it lifted net income guidance despite a fall in third-quarter profit and rise in bad loan charges. The company said it now expected net interest margin, a key measure of the difference between lending and savings rates, to be above 2.90% compared with a 2.84% in the year to date.

Pre-tax profit fell 26% to £1.5bn. Net income rose 12% to £13bn on the back of surging interest rates with impairment charges soaring to £668m from a release of £119m a year ago.

Airtel Africa tumbled after its half-year pre-tax profit missed analysts' expectations.

Anglo American was also in the red after the miner reported a slight fall in third-quarter output, as it ramped up its steelmaking coal longwall operations and posted a strong performance at its De Beers diamond unit.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,069.14 0.19% FTSE 250 (MCX) 18,053.04 -0.29% techMARK (TASX) 4,245.47 -0.19%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Shell (SHEL) 2,378.00p 3.41% Harbour Energy (HBR) 390.00p 1.93% BP (BP.) 474.75p 1.88% Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 194.50p 1.22% British American Tobacco (BATS) 3,438.50p 1.03% Standard Chartered (STAN) 530.20p 0.80% Tesco (TSCO) 213.50p 0.61% HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 446.30p 0.53% Pershing Square Holdings Ltd NPV (PSH) 2,850.00p 0.35% Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 74.71p 0.32%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Airtel Africa (AAF) 118.10p -7.01% Intertek Group (ITRK) 3,770.00p -2.41% Spirax-Sarco Engineering (SPX) 10,910.00p -2.20% Ashtead Group (AHT) 4,469.00p -1.87% Anglo American (AAL) 2,729.50p -1.55% RS Group (RS1) 988.00p -1.50% Halma (HLMA) 2,174.00p -1.45% Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 41.95p -1.41% Reckitt Benckiser Group (RKT) 5,644.00p -1.36% Rio Tinto (RIO) 4,777.50p -1.35%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Energean (ENOG) 1,439.00p 3.01% Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 1,617.00p 2.93% SSP Group (SSPG) 212.00p 2.37% Dr. Martens (DOCS) 243.80p 2.18% TBC Bank Group (TBCG) 1,890.00p 2.16% Indivior (INDV) 1,636.00p 1.80% SDCL Energy Efficiency Income Trust (SEIT) 104.00p 1.56% Mitchells & Butlers (MAB) 112.00p 1.45% Elementis (ELM) 98.65p 1.44% Currys (CURY) 67.55p 1.43%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Bellevue Healthcare Trust (Red) (BBH) 165.60p -2.59% Morgan Advanced Materials (MGAM) 255.00p -2.30% Discoverie Group (DSCV) 772.00p -2.28% JPMorgan American Inv Trust (JAM) 720.00p -2.17% JPMorgan Japanese Inv Trust (JFJ) 436.00p -2.13% Rotork (ROR) 262.40p -2.09% Bodycote (BOY) 507.00p -2.03% Bridgepoint Group (Reg S) (BPT) 216.40p -1.90% Monks Inv Trust (MNKS) 969.00p -1.82% Caledonia Investments (CLDN) 3,350.00p -1.76%