London open: Stocks gain as Kingfisher, Moonpig rally

(Sharecast News) - London stocks rose in early trade on Monday as investors brushed aside concerns about global growth and inflation, at least for now. At 0850 BST, the FTSE 100 was 0.9% firmer at 7,457.15.

Victoria Scholar, head of investment at Interactive Investor, said: "European markets are staging gains this morning with the DAX up by nearly 1.5% while the FTSE 100 has pushed above 7,450 as it looks towards 7,500 as the next near-term resistance hurdle.

"Most stocks in the UK index are in the green with Kingfisher leading the charge thanks to its surprise share buyback announcement.

"US futures are pointing higher after the Dow logged its eight consecutive weekly decline and after the S&P 500 briefly fell into bear market territory on Friday before clawing back earlier losses into the close."

In equity markets, B&Q owner Kingfisher jumped to the top of the FTSE 100 after it reiterated annual guidance, reported an expected fall in first-quarter sales and announced a £300m share buyback. The company said total group sales fell 5.8% to £3.2bn in the three months to April 22, in line with its expectations, against tough comparators last year when a DIY boom amid Covid lockdowns boosted revenues.

IT provider Kainos racked up strong gains after its full-year results and following an upgrade to 'buy' from 'hold' at Canaccord.

Moonpig surged after agreeing to buy UK gifting group Buyagift for £124m.

Scholar said: "Shares in Moonpig have jumped more than 13% as investors cheer the acquisition of this cash generative, high growth business. While Moonpig is best known for selling greetings cards online, its plans to expand further into gifts via this acquisition could help broaden its product offering and boost margins, particularly for some of the more expensive add-on products beyond its bread and butter.

"Moonpig is also likely to benefit from significant synergies as the two businesses overlap and come together to save costs. After an initial surge on IPO day last year, Moonpig shares have struggled alongside other UK tech companies like TGH. With shares down around 40% since the January high, today's acquisition comes as a welcomed update for investors and arguably could mark the start of a more bullish phase for the online greetings cards business."

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,457.15 0.91% FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,052.14 1.09% techMARK (TASX) 4,402.83 1.01%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Kingfisher (KGF) 254.30p 3.04% Intermediate Capital Group (ICP) 1,435.50p 2.83% Aveva Group (AVV) 2,235.00p 2.57% Anglo American (AAL) 3,605.50p 2.33% Royal Mail (RMG) 322.50p 2.25% Ashtead Group (AHT) 3,933.00p 2.21% Ocado Group (OCDO) 770.60p 2.09% Dechra Pharmaceuticals (DPH) 3,522.00p 2.09% JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 123.95p 2.02% BP (BP.) 425.60p 2.01%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Intertek Group (ITRK) 4,831.00p -1.39% WPP (WPP) 948.80p -1.23% Unilever (ULVR) 3,502.00p -0.41% Pershing Square Holdings Ltd NPV (PSH) 2,445.00p -0.41% Reckitt Benckiser Group (RKT) 6,218.00p -0.38% Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 83.09p -0.26% Associated British Foods (ABF) 1,614.00p 0.00% SEGRO (SGRO) 1,117.50p 0.09% ITV (ITV) 71.62p 0.14% Pearson (PSON) 760.00p 0.16%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Kainos Group (KNOS) 1,187.00p 15.02% Moonpig Group (MOON) 261.00p 11.06% Polymetal International (POLY) 265.00p 9.73% Auction Technology Group (ATG) 942.00p 4.32% Virgin Money UK (VMUK) 146.45p 3.79% Future (FUTR) 2,010.00p 3.72% Watches of Switzerland Group (WOSG) 932.50p 3.44% Diversified Energy Company (DEC) 126.30p 3.36% Rank Group (RNK) 102.40p 3.33% Tullow Oil (TLW) 55.30p 3.27%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Quilter (QLT) 119.68p -15.85% Network International Holdings (NETW) 210.00p -4.20% Sirius Real Estate Ltd. (SRE) 112.60p -1.05% Vietnam Enterprise Investments (DI) (VEIL) 662.00p -0.75% Playtech (PTEC) 535.00p -0.74% VinaCapital Vietnam Opportunity Fund Ltd. (VOF) 468.50p -0.74% Drax Group (DRX) 796.00p -0.31% Baltic Classifieds Group (BCG) 129.80p -0.31% Capricorn Energy (CNE) 201.40p -0.30% Coats Group (COA) 75.20p -0.27%