London open: Stocks edge up but airlines slide on Jet2 update

(Sharecast News) - London stocks edged higher in early trade on Thursday, but airlines were under the cosh after a disappointing update from Jet2. At 0835 BST, the FTSE 100 was up 0.2% at 9,194.23.

Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "Markets are largely shrugging off US tariff drama this morning, as President Trump heads to the Supreme Court in a push to confirm the legality of his tariff storm.

"The FTSE 100 was broadly flat at the open after yesterday's 0.6% rebound. That bounce followed Tuesday's sharp drop - the worst since April - sparked by a global bond selloff that drove UK 30-year yields to their highest since 1998. For now, gilt volatility remains the key risk to watch as investors look ahead in search of fresh catalysts."

On the UK macro front, the S&P Global construction PMI for August is due at 0930 BST. In the US, the ADP report for August is scheduled for release at 1315 BST.

In equity markets, Lloyds ticked higher following a Financial Times report that thousands of staff at the bank face the sack under plans to get rid of staff the lender deems to be underperforming.

Lloyds was said to be targeting 3,000 people out of its 63,000 workers, with around 50% potentially being axed under an overhaul of performance management led by chief executive Charlie Nunn, who took home more than £5m in pay and bonuses last year.

Britzman said: "With annual staff turnover at just 5% versus a more typical 15%, it's been forced to take a more aggressive approach to weed out the lower performers. This seems like sensible business and aligns with the banks quiet push to offshore more roles, aiming to hire 4,000 people in its India tech hub by year-end.

"If it can match peers like NatWest and Barclays on offshoring and branch reductions, the cost improvements could drive meaningful profit upside."

Electricals retailer Currys shot higher as it hailed a "strong" start to the year, launched a £50m share buyback and reported a 3% jump in group sales in the 17 weeks to 30 August.

Genus surged after the animal genetics company reported "substantial strategic progress" over the year to 30 June, as it reported a big jump in profits and revealed a positive update to its joint venture in China.

Building materials distributor and DIY retailer Grafton gained as it held annual guidance and announced a new £25m share buyback after interim profits jumped 19% to £91.5m on the back of a strong contribution from non-UK operations.

On the downside, easyJet, BA and Iberia owner IAG and Wizz Air all flew lower after Jet2 warned that full-year underlying earnings were set to be towards the lower end of the consensus range and cut its winter capacity.

Jet2 said that since its last update on 9 July, the "closer to departure" booking trend has become more pronounced.

Elsewhere, Ladbrokes owner Entain was knocked lower by a downgrade to 'hold' at HSBC.

Hammerson, Ithaca Energy, Derwent London, Hochschild Mining and Rathbones all fell as they traded without entitlement to the dividend.