London open: Stocks steady as investors mull central bank announcements

(Sharecast News) - London stocks were steady in early trade on Friday as investors paused for breath after a slew of central bank policy announcements this week.

At 0840 GMT, the FTSE 100 was flat at 7,645.67.

Sophie Lund-Yates, lead equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "Investors are chewing through an enormous amount of data from central banks in recent days, with the pause button for interest rates still the go-to.

"The pressure could be mounting though, as markets are still largely behaving as though these pauses are pivots, but it's likely that cuts are further away than investors are expecting. The huge resilience of economies so far has been a pleasant surprise, but that doesn't mean challenges aren't coming down the tracks, and recessions, and earnings shocks, can't be ruled out just yet."

On home shores, a survey out earlier showed that consumer confidence edged higher in December as people became more optimistic for the year ahead.

GfK's consumer confidence index, which has been running since 1974, rose two points this month to -22.

Within that, all five measures showed modest improvement. The personal finance situation for the coming year ticked up 1 point at -2, while the outlook for the general economic situation also improved by 1 point, to -25.

The major purchase index rose one point to -23.

Joe Staton, client strategy director at GfK, said: "Against the backdrop of flattening economic growth, interest rates at a 15-year high and price rises potentially eroding disposable income for years to come, the index shows a modest improvement this month.

"Although the headline figure of -22 means the nation's confidence is still firmly in negative territory, optimism for our personal finances for the next 12 months shows a notable recovery from the depressed -29 this time last year.

"Recovery in this number is importanta, as it best reflects household financial optimism and control over personal budgets."

The survey of 2,003 individuals aged 16 and over was carried about between 29 November and 8 December.

Still to come, the S&P Global/CIPS flash manufacturing PMI for December is due at 0930 GMT.

In equity markets, Trainline surged after the government scrapped plans to develop a ticketing website and app under its Great British Railways proposals. JPMorgan said the news was a "clear positive" for the booking platform.

"The proposed withdrawal removes a key overhang to Trainline's investment case, where building investor concerns have been around changes in UK rail regulation (a new GBR app) which drove a de-rating relative to classified peers, and overshadowed strong passenger momentum and improved operational delivery, in our view," the bank said.

Outside the FTSE 350, Naked Wines rallied as it reiterated plans to turn the business around, despite falling deeper into the red and posting a slump in half-year revenues.

The AIM-listed online retailer said total revenues in the 26 weeks to 2 October had fallen 20% to £132.3m, while pre-tax losses widened to £9.7m from £0.2m a year previously.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,645.67 -0.04% FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,332.83 0.39% techMARK (TASX) 4,200.30 -0.07%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Smith (DS) (SMDS) 313.10p 3.57% Glencore (GLEN) 463.30p 2.10% Flutter Entertainment (CDI) (FLTR) 13,560.00p 1.99% Entain (ENT) 934.40p 1.57% Anglo American (AAL) 1,822.40p 1.50% Rio Tinto (RIO) 5,725.00p 1.27% Pershing Square Holdings Ltd NPV (PSH) 3,412.00p 1.13% Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,649.50p 1.10% Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 783.40p 0.95% Legal & General Group (LGEN) 248.20p 0.94%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 295.50p -1.50% British American Tobacco (BATS) 2,326.50p -1.46% Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,067.00p -1.39% Croda International (CRDA) 5,064.00p -1.33% AstraZeneca (AZN) 10,354.00p -1.09% GSK (GSK) 1,448.00p -0.94% Admiral Group (ADM) 2,647.00p -0.94% Sage Group (SGE) 1,162.00p -0.90% Auto Trader Group (AUTO) 724.20p -0.88% Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 1,765.50p -0.84%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Trainline (TRN) 346.80p 22.03% Ceres Power Holdings (CWR) 194.60p 4.51% FDM Group (Holdings) (FDM) 436.50p 4.05% Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 211.60p 3.02% Currys (CURY) 51.50p 3.00% Dr. Martens (DOCS) 95.25p 2.97% Bridgepoint Group (Reg S) (BPT) 280.00p 2.71% 888 Holdings (DI) (888) 89.30p 2.53% Bank of Georgia Group (BGEO) 3,550.00p 2.45% Inchcape (INCH) 712.50p 2.44%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Cranswick (CWK) 3,848.00p -2.24% Marshalls (MSLH) 262.80p -2.23% Impax Environmental Markets (IEM) 379.50p -2.06% Pacific Horizon Inv Trust (PHI) 530.00p -1.85% AJ Bell (AJB) 309.00p -1.15% Edinburgh Worldwide Inv Trust (EWI) 146.00p -1.08% HICL Infrastructure (HICL) 132.20p -1.05% Schroder Oriental Income Fund Ltd. (SOI) 241.50p -1.02% UK Commercial Property Reit Limited (UKCM) 59.10p -1.01% Balanced Commercial Property Trust Limited (BCPT) 70.50p -0.98%