London open: Stocks flat as investors eye US bank earnings

(Sharecast News) - London stocks were steady in early trade on Friday as investors eyed earnings across the pond from JPMorgan, Citigroup and Wells Fargo. At 0825 BST, the FTSE 100 was flat at 7,437.88.

CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson said: "Today's only economic numbers of note are US import and export prices for June, which are expected to reinforce the deflationary narrative of this week's data, with both month on month and annual numbers all expected to come in negative for the second month in succession.

"We'll also be getting the latest University of Michigan sentiment numbers for July, which have up until recently been market movers when it comes to forward inflation expectations. After this week's CPI and PPI numbers they probably won't get the same level of attention.

"On the earnings front the focus will be on the release of the Q2 numbers for JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup and Wells Fargo, and their respective views of the health of the US consumer, and how much they set plan to aside in additional provisions. Their guidance on how they see the US economy in Q3 is also likely to be crucial."

In equity markets, Ashmore tanked after it posted a $1.8bn decline in assets under management for the quarter to the end of June.

Burberry edged lower even as the luxury fashion brand reiterated its full-year guidance after a resurgent China helped lift first-quarter sales.

Burberry said retail sales in the 13 weeks to 1 July rose 17% to £589m, or by 18% on a like-for-like basis. On a constant exchange rate basis, sales were 19% higher.

Within that, sales in mainland China surged 46%, as the country - one of the world's biggest markets for luxury goods - continued to rebound from stringent Covid lockdowns last year.

Broadcaster ITV also ticked lower after saying it was no longer looking at buying TV and film production business All3Media, owned by Warner Bros Discovery and Liberty Global. The company said it was "still monitoring" the situation.

Liontrust Asset Management fell as it reported net outflows and a fall in assets under management and advice.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,437.88 -0.03% FTSE 250 (MCX) 18,583.32 -0.26% techMARK (TASX) 4,378.17 -0.01%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Spirax-Sarco Engineering (SPX) 10,435.00p 2.91% Vodafone Group (VOD) 72.60p 0.93% AstraZeneca (AZN) 10,416.00p 0.83% F&C Investment Trust (FCIT) 867.00p 0.58% Beazley (BEZ) 578.50p 0.52% Haleon (HLN) 313.70p 0.38% Airtel Africa (AAF) 106.30p 0.38% Smurfit Kappa Group (CDI) (SKG) 2,846.00p 0.35% Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 2,428.00p 0.33% British American Tobacco (BATS) 2,531.00p 0.32%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Ocado Group (OCDO) 605.00p -2.42% Admiral Group (ADM) 2,058.00p -1.53% Abrdn (ABDN) 220.40p -1.43% Severn Trent (SVT) 2,429.00p -1.42% RS Group (RS1) 746.20p -1.14% Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,531.00p -1.03% Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 825.80p -1.03% Legal & General Group (LGEN) 225.30p -0.97% Ashtead Group (AHT) 5,346.00p -0.93% Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 147.95p -0.90%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Dr. Martens (DOCS) 130.60p 3.65% Moneysupermarket.com Group (MONY) 280.00p 1.67% Inchcape (INCH) 781.00p 1.43% FirstGroup (FGP) 149.20p 1.36% Watches of Switzerland Group (WOSG) 719.00p 1.20% Virgin Money UK (VMUK) 165.25p 1.13% Babcock International Group (BAB) 299.00p 1.01% Dunelm Group (DNLM) 1,056.00p 0.96% Lancashire Holdings Limited (LRE) 620.50p 0.89% Future (FUTR) 794.00p 0.83%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Ashmore Group (ASHM) 202.60p -6.55% CMC Markets (CMCX) 151.00p -4.19% Liontrust Asset Management (LIO) 690.00p -2.68% Hammerson (HMSO) 24.56p -2.46% Vistry Group (VTY) 665.50p -2.28% IntegraFin Holding (IHP) 240.60p -2.04% Capita (CPI) 29.02p -1.96% Victrex plc (VCT) 1,513.00p -1.94% Carnival (CCL) 1,208.00p -1.91% Darktrace (DARK) 286.90p -1.85%