London open: Stocks nudge up after US Treasury yields retreat

(Sharecast News) - London stocks nudged higher in early trade on Thursday following solid gains on Wall Street, as a retreat in US Treasury yields provided some relief. At 0840 BST, the FTSE 100 was up 0.1% at 7,420.90.

Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "Another day, and another US jobs report has set the tone, but this time it's relief rather than anxiety washing through. The FTSE 100 is treading water amid calmer sentiment in early trading, after tech stocks on Wall Street powered indices higher. Hopes are increasing that interest rates in the US might not have to stay at quite such high levels for quite so long.

"Investors are fixated on data indicating the strength of the American economy and what it will mean for monetary policy. The ADP National Employment report showed that 89,000 jobs were created in the private sector in September, far below estimates. If this pattern is reflected in the key non-farm payrolls report on Friday, it could mean cuts to interest rates might be brought a little closer on the horizon and the possibility of another hike will diminish fast. Fed policymakers want signs that the economy is cooling to keep a lid on bubbling inflation before easing restrictive policy. If Friday's payroll numbers indicate employers are becoming a lot more cautious, there may well be another relief wave, but attention is then set to turn quickly to whether the US may suffer a harder landing after all.

"Closely watched US Treasury yields have also retreated from highs reached this week, as the market reassesses the potential path of interest rates."

In equity markets, tobacco giant Imperial Brands gained after saying it will buy back a further £1.1bn in shares as it announced it was on track to hit forecasts this year.

Unite Group and Volution also rose after a trading update and full-year results, respectively.

On the downside, Weir Group, Bank of Georgia and Hays lost ground as they traded without entitlement to the dividend.

Metro Bank tanked following reports it's looking to raise hundreds of millions of pounds from investors.

According to the Financial Times, which cited people with knowledge of the plan, the bank is looking to raise as much as £600m after its share price fell nearly 50% in recent weeks.

It was understood the challenger bank is in talks with investors about raising £250m in equity funding and £350m in debt to shore up its balance sheet.

Broker Shore Capital said: "Supporting a further capital raise for this struggling bank would be akin to throwing good money after bad, in our view, as it has already had enough time and opportunity to sort itself out and has been unable to do so. Investors and bondholders may therefore be better served investing their money elsewhere."

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,420.90 0.11% FTSE 250 (MCX) 17,549.28 0.32% techMARK (TASX) 4,086.44 0.11%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Tesco (TSCO) 276.10p 1.99% Imperial Brands (IMB) 1,603.50p 1.49% Reckitt Benckiser Group (RKT) 5,826.00p 1.43% B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 557.20p 1.24% Haleon (HLN) 342.95p 1.12% Unite Group (UTG) 890.50p 1.08% Entain (ENT) 912.20p 1.06% Pearson (PSON) 878.20p 0.94% Flutter Entertainment (CDI) (FLTR) 13,260.00p 0.91% Associated British Foods (ABF) 1,995.00p 0.91%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Aviva (AV.) 383.70p -1.03% Glencore (GLEN) 438.90p -0.99% Weir Group (WEIR) 1,825.50p -0.95% GSK (GSK) 1,474.00p -0.86% Barclays (BARC) 152.56p -0.86% Endeavour Mining (EDV) 1,494.00p -0.80% Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,346.00p -0.74% BP (BP.) 496.15p -0.66% Airtel Africa (AAF) 119.60p -0.58% Anglo American (AAL) 2,131.00p -0.49%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Volution Group (FAN) 359.40p 6.77% Kainos Group (KNOS) 1,189.00p 5.22% International Distributions Services (IDS) 252.50p 4.51% 888 Holdings (DI) (888) 97.05p 4.24% Spirent Communications (SPT) 92.90p 3.11% Savills (SVS) 834.00p 2.96% Target Healthcare Reit Ltd (THRL) 77.30p 2.66% Diversified Energy Company (DEC) 68.80p 2.53% Genuit Group (GEN) 308.50p 2.49% Grafton Group Ut (CDI) (GFTU) 870.60p 2.42%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Bank of Georgia Group (BGEO) 3,380.00p -3.84% Hays (HAS) 103.30p -2.46% Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 258.20p -2.34% Just Group (JUST) 67.40p -2.03% Empiric Student Property (ESP) 83.00p -1.89% RHI Magnesita N.V. (DI) (RHIM) 2,710.00p -1.81% Bluefield Solar Income Fund Limited (BSIF) 115.00p -1.54% HGCapital Trust (HGT) 360.00p -1.37% Allianz Technology Trust (ATT) 254.00p -1.17% UK Commercial Property Reit Limited (UKCM) 52.50p -1.13%