London open: FTSE edges up as Entain, Vodafone rally

(Sharecast News) - London stocks edged higher in early trade on Monday, helped along by strong performances from Entain and Vodafone, as investors mulled the latest comments from Federal Reserve officials. At 0850 GMT, the FTSE 100 was up 0.2% at 7,588.18.

Steve Clayton, head of equity funds at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "It is too early to be talking of rate cuts said John Williams, President of the New York Fed. That burst a few traders' bubbles, coming after a week which saw US bond yields tumbling in anticipation of rate cuts in 2024.

"Markets will be thinning out this week, ahead of the Xmas holidays and there is a relatively light corporate reporting schedule."

In equity markets, Vodafone shot higher after Iliad said it had submitted a proposal to merge their Italian businesses.

Ladbrokes owner Entain rallied after an upgrade to 'buy' at Jefferies, but British Gas owner Centrica was hit by a downgrade to 'hold' by the same outfit.

Bulmers and Magners owner C&C Group gained after saying it has appointed Andrew Andrea as chief financial officer with effect from 1 March 2024.

Games Workshop advanced as it struck an exclusive rights deal with Amazon to develop its Warhammer 40,000 game into films and television series, together with associated merchandising rights.

Speciality chemicals company Croda fell as it announced that chief financial officer Louisa Burdett will leave the group next year to join Spirax-Sarco Engineering, and said full-year pre-tax profit was set to be at the lower end of its guided £300m to £320m range.

Precious metals miner Fresnillo lost its shine after a downgrade to 'underweight' at Morgan Stanley.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,588.18 0.16% FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,156.28 -0.27% techMARK (TASX) 4,184.59 0.35%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Vodafone Group (VOD) 68.11p 5.24% Entain (ENT) 982.80p 4.71% Flutter Entertainment (CDI) (FLTR) 13,560.00p 1.16% St James's Place (STJ) 684.60p 1.03% GSK (GSK) 1,433.00p 0.97% Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 292.80p 0.93% BP (BP.) 461.90p 0.88% Standard Chartered (STAN) 648.20p 0.87% BAE Systems (BA.) 1,067.00p 0.85% Rio Tinto (RIO) 5,741.00p 0.75%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Fresnillo (FRES) 550.80p -5.94% Centrica (CNA) 138.85p -2.08% Ocado Group (OCDO) 708.40p -2.02% Spirax-Sarco Engineering (SPX) 10,115.00p -1.80% Rentokil Initial (RTO) 419.80p -1.69% Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 4,790.00p -1.62% WPP (WPP) 738.60p -1.60% Croda International (CRDA) 4,985.00p -1.48% Unite Group (UTG) 1,029.00p -1.34% International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 157.55p -1.22%

FTSE 250 - Risers

IP Group (IPO) 55.00p 5.16% C&C Group (CDI) (CCR) 148.40p 2.77% Indivior (INDV) 1,163.00p 2.29% Petershill Partners (PHLL) 159.60p 2.18% Games Workshop Group (GAW) 9,995.00p 2.09% Energean (ENOG) 961.00p 1.75% Paragon Banking Group (PAG) 638.00p 1.67% Hochschild Mining (HOC) 101.40p 1.30% NextEnergy Solar Fund Limited Red (NESF) 86.55p 1.23% Currys (CURY) 50.60p 1.10%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Trustpilot Group (TRST) 138.10p -5.35% NCC Group (NCC) 122.00p -3.79% Bakkavor Group (BAKK) 81.20p -3.33% Discoverie Group (DSCV) 744.00p -3.25% Sequoia Economic Infrastructure Income Fund Limited (SEQI) 82.50p -2.48% Keller Group (KLR) 800.00p -2.44% Moonpig Group (MOON) 166.10p -2.35% Bellevue Healthcare Trust (Red) (BBH) 144.80p -2.16% Hipgnosis Songs Fund Limited NPV (SONG) 68.60p -2.14% RHI Magnesita N.V. (DI) (RHIM) 3,346.00p -1.99%