London open: Stocks little changed; Burberry tumbles on sales warning

(Sharecast News) - London stocks were little changed in early trade on Thursday as investors paused for breath following recent gains on the back of softer-than-expected UK and US inflation data, with Burberry under the cosh after a sales warning. At 0900 GMT, the FTSE 100 was up just 0.1% at 7,492.34.

Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "A subdued session looks set to bed in after the enthusiasm sparked by the dip in inflation. Cautiousness about the trajectory of interest rates in the United States is edging back in after retail sales didn't slow by as much as expected.

"Consumers are still showing enduring resilience, even as lockdown savings are whittled away, leading to some speculation a rate cut move from the Fed will be further off than earlier hopes. China's fragile housing market has loomed back into focus, after data showed new home prices in 70 major cities across the vast country fell for the fourth month in a row, dipping 0.3% month on month.

"Hopes for a significant trade breakthrough from talks between Joe Biden and Xi Jinping haven't materialised, despite some limited progress in healing the relationship. But the meeting has underwhelmed, with Chinese stocks largely falling as investors cast an eye back to domestic economic problems."

In equity markets, Halma rallied as it reported record first-half profit and revenue and said it was on track to deliver full-year 2024 adjusted pre-tax profit in line with analyst expectations.

Aviva was also a high riser as it posted a 13% jump in nine-month premiums, while Melrose Industries gained as it lifted its full-year profit outlook, highlighting stronger aftermarket demand and pricing.

Mr Kipling and Bisto owner Premier Foods advanced as it boosted its full-year profit expectations following a "strong" first-half performance.

On the downside, Burberry tumbled as it warned that the slowdown in luxury demand was having an impact on current trading and could affect full-year sales. It also reported a huge deceleration in sales growth in the first half.

B&M European Value Retail and Shell were both lower as they traded without entitlement to the dividend.

Outside the FTSE 350, Hotel Chocolat rocketed after the premium chocolatier agreed to be bought by US food giant Mars in a 534m deal.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,492.34 0.07% FTSE 250 (MCX) 18,658.89 -0.09% techMARK (TASX) 4,089.07 -0.13%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Halma (HLMA) 2,039.00p 3.74% SSE (SSE) 1,801.00p 2.86% Tesco (TSCO) 279.10p 2.05% National Grid (NG.) 1,008.50p 1.95% Vodafone Group (VOD) 74.07p 1.90% Spirax-Sarco Engineering (SPX) 9,100.00p 1.81% Melrose Industries (MRO) 542.00p 1.76% Aviva (AV.) 420.40p 1.55% Centrica (CNA) 149.35p 1.19% Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 125.00p 1.17%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,602.50p -8.14% Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 721.60p -4.30% Ocado Group (OCDO) 579.40p -2.82% B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 539.80p -1.93% Shell (SHEL) 2,606.50p -1.10% Whitbread (WTB) 3,361.00p -0.83% JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 140.80p -0.81% Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,366.00p -0.80% Weir Group (WEIR) 1,831.50p -0.68% Anglo American (AAL) 2,196.00p -0.66%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Ninety One (N91) 176.60p 2.32% Premier Foods (PFD) 134.00p 2.29% Clarkson (CKN) 2,935.00p 2.26% easyJet (EZJ) 437.60p 2.24% Coats Group (COA) 74.60p 1.91% FDM Group (Holdings) (FDM) 390.00p 1.83% Essentra (ESNT) 164.00p 1.49% Supermarket Income Reit (SUPR) 83.80p 1.33% Rathbones Group (RAT) 1,700.00p 1.31% Safestore Holdings (SAFE) 786.50p 1.29%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

QinetiQ Group (QQ.) 328.00p -6.45% Lancashire Holdings Limited (LRE) 632.50p -6.09% Discoverie Group (DSCV) 635.00p -3.64% Syncona Limited NPV (SYNC) 131.00p -2.96% 888 Holdings (DI) (888) 80.60p -2.83% International Distributions Services (IDS) 237.90p -2.78% Ceres Power Holdings (CWR) 211.00p -2.76% Babcock International Group (BAB) 410.40p -2.52% North Atlantic Smaller Companies Inv Trust (NAS) 3,860.00p -2.28% JTC (JTC) 724.00p -1.90%