London open: Stocks flat as investors mull retail sales; PageGroup, Indivior warn on profits

(Sharecast News) - London stocks were steady in early trade on Tuesday as investors mulled a dip in retail sales and profit warnings from PageGroup and Indivior.

At 0820 BST, the FTSE 100 was flat at 8,190.31.

Market participants were still digesting comments from Bank of England policymaker Jonathan Haskel on Monday, which cast doubt over the prospect of a rate cut in August.

In a speech at King's College London, Haskel said he wanted to keep interest rates on hold "until there is more certainty that underlying inflationary pressures have subsided sustainably".

Retail sales figures were also in focus, as they revealed a slight dip in June as a result of a markedly cooler summer so far.

According to the latest BRC-KPMG Retail Sales Monitor overall sales decreased 0.2% year-on-year, comparing unfavourably with the 4.9% growth seen in June last year, but still above the three-month average decline of 1.1%.

"Retail sales performed poorly in June as the cooler weather during the first half of the month dulled consumer spending," said British Retail Consortium chief executive officer Helen Dickinson.

"Sales of weather-sensitive categories such as clothing and footwear, as well as DIY and gardening were hit particularly hard, especially compared to the surge in spending during last June's heatwave."

Dickinson added that electronics sales had a better month as football fans upgraded their home entertainment systems and people replaced pandemic purchases.

"Retailers remain hopeful that as the summer social season gets into full swing and the weather improves, sales will follow suit."

In equity markets, BP slumped after saying it would take a hit of up to $2bn in the second quarter relating to asset impairments and onerous contract provisions, including charges relating to the ongoing review of its Gelsenkirchen refinery in Germany.

The oil and gas giant also forecast flat upstream production in the second quarter, while its gas marketing and trading result was also expected to be average following a strong result in the first quarter.

Recruiter PageGroup was under the cosh as it warned on full-year profits, citing geopolitical and macroeconomic uncertainty and a more cautious view for the second half. It now expects FY24 operating profit of around £60m, down from £118.8m a year earlier and below estimates of £90m. Fellow recruiters SThree and Hays also lost ground.

Indivior tanked as the opioid addiction treatment maker downgraded its FY24 adjusted operating profit forecast to between $285m and $320m from $330m to $380m, and said it was cutting around 130 jobs.

On the upside, engineering and consulting firm Wood Group rose after saying it had signed a six-year contract with energy giant Shell to provide brownfield engineering, procurement, and construction management for the latter's Prelude floating liquefied natural gas platform facility in Western Australia.

Vistry gained after the housebuilder backed its full-year expectations as it hailed a "strong" first half and said profit was expected to have risen 7%. Persimmon and Barratt also rose.

Capita rocketed as the outsourcer announced the sale of its public sector software business for £200m.

Elsewhere, B&Q owner Kingfisher and electricals retailer Currys both pushed higher after upgrades to 'buy' at Deutsche Bank.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 8,190.31 -0.04% FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,786.63 -0.06% techMARK (TASX) 4,758.99 0.22%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Fresnillo (FRES) 593.50p 1.98% Kingfisher (KGF) 263.10p 1.35% Persimmon (PSN) 1,490.50p 1.33% Smurfit Westrock (DI) (SWR) 3,621.00p 1.32% National Grid (NG.) 939.20p 1.14% Airtel Africa (AAF) 118.40p 1.11% Rio Tinto (RIO) 5,262.00p 1.08% CRH (CDI) (CRH) 5,862.00p 1.07% Vistry Group (VTY) 1,305.00p 1.01% Barratt Developments (BDEV) 507.80p 0.79%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

BP (BP.) 457.95p -3.52% HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 667.20p -0.85% JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 112.75p -0.79% Shell (SHEL) 2,816.00p -0.67% Flutter Entertainment (DI) (FLTR) 15,425.00p -0.61% Sage Group (SGE) 1,060.50p -0.61% Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 458.80p -0.54% Weir Group (WEIR) 1,955.00p -0.51% Ashtead Group (AHT) 5,068.00p -0.43% Frasers Group (FRAS) 863.00p -0.40%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Elementis (ELM) 160.00p 6.95% Direct Line Insurance Group (DLG) 201.00p 3.34% Currys (CURY) 74.85p 2.89% FirstGroup (FGP) 170.40p 2.28% AJ Bell (AJB) 392.00p 1.82% Mony Group (MONY) 237.00p 1.63% Keller Group (KLR) 1,360.00p 1.49% Shaftesbury Capital (SHC) 148.00p 1.37% Supermarket Income Reit (SUPR) 75.00p 1.35% Ithaca Energy (ITH) 124.40p 1.30%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

SThree (STEM) 428.00p -3.28% Dr. Martens (DOCS) 73.15p -2.79% Inchcape (INCH) 780.00p -2.56% SSP Group (SSPG) 155.30p -2.33% Jupiter Fund Management (JUP) 82.00p -2.26% Bridgepoint Group (Reg S) (BPT) 233.80p -2.01% Assura (AGR) 41.00p -1.96% Alpha Group International (ALPH) 2,355.00p -1.88% BlackRock Greater Europe Inv Trust (BRGE) 618.00p -1.59% Caledonia Investments (CLDN) 3,490.00p -1.41%