London open: Stocks edge up in quiet trade; Superdry tumbles

(Sharecast News) - London stocks edged higher in early trade on Tuesday, with the Christmas lull well and truly upon us, as investors mulled the latest policy announcement from the Bank of Japan. At 0845 GMT, the FTSE 100 was 0.3% firmer at 7,634.80.

Neil Wilson, chief market analyst at Finalto, said: "Stocks are a bit firmer this morning after a mainly upbeat session on Wall Street and gains for the Nikkei overnight on continued Bank of Japan dovishness."

The BoJ announced earlier that it was keeping short-term interest rates at -0.1% as it continues to encourage banks to lend more and kickstart an economic recovery, but said it was keeping a close eye on price and wage movements before it considers tightening monetary policy.

Policymakers voted unanimously to keep rates unchanged, as widely expected, and said they would continue to purchase government bonds without setting an upper limit so that 10-year bond yields remains around 0% with an upper bound of 1.0%.

On the UK corporate front, news was scarce but Flutter Entertainment was boosted by an upgrade to 'buy' at Peel Hunt.

On the downside, music rights investor Hipgnosis Songs Fund fell as it delayed publication of its interim results. The results were due on Tuesday but have been pushed back to the end of December after the board expressed concerns about the value of the company's assets.

Hipgnosis said an independent valuation was "materially higher than the valuation implied by proposed and recent transactions in the sector".

Clothing retailer Superdry tumbled as it issued a profit warning, saying it was hit by a challenging trading environment and warm weather.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,634.80 0.27% FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,315.27 0.49% techMARK (TASX) 4,215.41 0.47%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Ocado Group (OCDO) 753.00p 3.43% Flutter Entertainment (CDI) (FLTR) 13,800.00p 2.64% Entain (ENT) 994.60p 1.78% Croda International (CRDA) 5,084.00p 1.68% Rightmove (RMV) 565.00p 1.58% Severn Trent (SVT) 2,641.00p 1.58% Fresnillo (FRES) 563.60p 1.55% Whitbread (WTB) 3,584.00p 1.39% Rentokil Initial (RTO) 434.60p 1.35% Spirax-Sarco Engineering (SPX) 10,240.00p 1.29%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

BAE Systems (BA.) 1,056.00p -1.17% Vodafone Group (VOD) 66.65p -0.86% BP (BP.) 461.20p -0.86% Shell (SHEL) 2,517.50p -0.77% Centrica (CNA) 141.50p -0.39% Imperial Brands (IMB) 1,812.50p -0.38% Admiral Group (ADM) 2,660.00p -0.37% Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 46.89p -0.23% Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,512.50p -0.13% Aviva (AV.) 428.70p -0.12%

FTSE 250 - Risers

AO World (AO.) 98.35p 3.53% Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 216.80p 3.24% Mitie Group (MTO) 102.00p 2.51% Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 2,030.00p 2.50% PZ Cussons (PZC) 156.80p 2.35% Asia Dragon Trust (DGN) 350.00p 2.34% TI Fluid Systems (TIFS) 149.00p 2.19% Trainline (TRN) 320.80p 2.17% Harbour Energy (HBR) 238.60p 1.97% Pets at Home Group (PETS) 314.20p 1.88%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Diversified Energy Company (DEC) 1,250.00p -4.62% Tullow Oil (TLW) 34.34p -3.38% Hipgnosis Songs Fund Limited NPV (SONG) 66.80p -3.33% Ibstock (IBST) 143.30p -2.38% NCC Group (NCC) 123.00p -2.38% Bakkavor Group (BAKK) 81.20p -2.17% Apax Global Alpha Limited (APAX) 158.00p -1.86% Keller Group (KLR) 800.00p -1.72% Templeton Emerging Markets Inv Trust (TEM) 145.60p -1.62% Spirent Communications (SPT) 114.20p -1.55%