London open: Stocks gain as Informa, Wetherspoons rally

(Sharecast News) - London stocks rose in early trade on Wednesday, helped along by solid performances from the likes of Informa and Wetherspoons, as investors eyed this week's Bank of England policy announcement. At 0835 BST, the FTSE 100 was up 0.4% at 8,348.46.

Derren Nathan, head of equity research at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "The FTSE 100 was up over 0.4% just short of 8,350 in early trading. Over the last month it has risen 5% strongly outperforming the US market. The S&P 500 is down 0.3% over the same period.

"This follows a broadly flat session in the United States, as markets clung onto gains made in the latest winning streak. That's after a drag from the 9.5% drop in the value of Disney shares, the worst performance for over a year."

Looking ahead to the rest of the week, investors will be eyeing the BoE's latest policy announcement on Thursday.

Danske Bank said it expects the Bank to keep rates unchanged at 5.25%, in line with consensus and current market pricing.

"Overall, we expect the MPC to cautiously soften its communication priming markets for a rate cut, delivering the first cut of 25bp in June," it said.

In equity markets, Informa jumped to the top of the FTSE 100 as the B2B events, publishing and data group lifted its share buyback programme by 50% and announced a strong operating performance for the first four months of the year, with revenues, profits and cash flow expected to reach the upper end of guidance.

The company said it has raised its 2024 share repurchase programme by a further £160m to £500m.

AstraZeneca was in the black after announcing the withdrawal of its Covid-19 vaccine worldwide just months after admitting it can cause a rare and potentially dangerous side effect.

OSB Group surged as it said its financial and operational performance in the first quarter was stable and underlying net interest margin was on track to meet full-year guidance.

Pub group JD Wetherspoon rallied after saying it expects full-year profits to be towards the top of market expectations as it reported a 5.2% jump in like-for-like third-quarter sales, boosted by sales of traditional ales and Guinness.

British Gas owner Centrica was trading higher after an upgrade to 'buy' at UBS.

On the downside, Direct Line fell even as the insurer reported a large rise in first-quarter written premiums as it hammered consumers with price hikes.

Technical instruments maker Renishaw slumped as it lowered full-year guidance amid what it described as "mixed" markets as earnings fell over the first nine months of its financial year.

In a trading update, the company said it now expects revenue to be in the range of £680m to £700m and adjusted profit before tax of £122m to £135m. This compares with £675m to £715m and £122m to £147m forecast at Renishaw's interim results in February.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 8,348.46 0.42% FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,425.73 0.06% techMARK (TASX) 4,714.19 0.27%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Informa (INF) 858.00p 3.20% easyJet (EZJ) 520.60p 2.04% Diageo (DGE) 2,806.00p 1.83% Centrica (CNA) 133.35p 1.68% Smith (DS) (SMDS) 364.00p 1.68% Croda International (CRDA) 4,907.00p 1.57% HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 723.00p 1.46% Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 2,714.00p 1.42% AstraZeneca (AZN) 12,270.00p 1.25% Mondi (MNDI) 1,581.50p 1.18%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

BP (BP.) 494.40p -1.85% Antofagasta (ANTO) 2,167.00p -1.41% Intermediate Capital Group (ICG) 2,152.00p -1.28% Phoenix Group Holdings (PHNX) 512.00p -1.06% Vodafone Group (VOD) 67.24p -1.00% Glencore (GLEN) 463.80p -0.89% Entain (ENT) 779.80p -0.76% BT Group (BT.A) 104.65p -0.76% Rio Tinto (RIO) 5,550.00p -0.73% Flutter Entertainment (DI) (FLTR) 16,085.00p -0.71%

FTSE 250 - Risers

OSB Group (OSB) 455.80p 6.25% Wetherspoon (J.D.) (JDW) 745.50p 2.47% Jupiter Fund Management (JUP) 83.20p 2.09% Close Brothers Group (CBG) 481.00p 2.04% Mitie Group (MTO) 121.20p 1.85% IntegraFin Holding (IHP) 309.00p 1.81% Paragon Banking Group (PAG) 730.00p 1.39% Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 2,110.00p 1.34% Grafton Group Ut (CDI) (GFTU) 942.90p 1.31% Babcock International Group (BAB) 531.00p 1.24%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Tritax Eurobox (GBP) (EBOX) 61.00p -3.79% TI Fluid Systems (TIFS) 136.60p -2.15% Renishaw (RSW) 4,070.00p -2.05% Blackrock Throgmorton Trust (THRG) 591.00p -1.83% Morgan Advanced Materials (MGAM) 313.00p -1.73% Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 134.30p -1.68% Direct Line Insurance Group (DLG) 185.70p -1.59% Ascential (ASCL) 313.60p -1.38% TR Property Inv Trust (TRY) 322.00p -1.38% Monks Inv Trust (MNKS) 1,166.00p -1.35%