London open: Stocks nudge up amid corporate deluge

(Sharecast News) - London stocks nudged higher in early trade on Tuesday as investors waded through a deluge of corporate news and continued to mull the impact of the US-EU trade deal. At 0835 BST, the FTSE 100 was up 0.1% at 9,092.67.

Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "Results season is in full swing as several FTSE 100 giants reported this morning. The index ticked higher in early trading as investors try to make heads and tails of global trade developments, as well as corporate earnings.

"European stocks also ticked higher after a poor day yesterday, as investors weighed the broader fallout from a US-EU trade deal that's stirred more concern than confidence across the bloc. The agreement, widely viewed as tilting in Washington's favour, risks deepening growth anxiety in core Eurozone economies already grappling with fragile momentum."

On home shores, industry data out earlier showed the family shop got more expensive in July as food inflation accelerated for the sixth straight month, with staples under the most pressure as wholesale prices are driven up by global supply problems.

The British Retail Consortium's shop price monitor found that prices at UK tills were 0.7% higher than a year ago in July.

That followed 0.4% annual growth in June, a 0.1% increase in May and a 0.1% fall in April.

Non-food prices were 1.0% lower than last July, with deflation easing from -1.2% in June, with the BRC noting discounts in categories like fashion and furniture.

However, food inflation picked up strongly to 4.0% from 3.7%. Fresh food inflation was flat at 3.2% but ambient food inflation surged to 5.1% from 4.3%, with regular purchases like meat and tea "hit the hardest" by rising wholesale prices, according to BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson.

"If the government wants to support struggling families, it must think carefully about the next Budget. Retailers are doing everything possible to protect their customers from the worst of the inflationary pressures, but the £7bn cost to retail of last year's Budget forced most retailers to raise prices," Dickinson said.

"Further tax rises will ultimately hurt households, locking in inflation and forcing people to pay higher prices to put food on the table."

In equity markets, Games Workshop shot higher as the Warhammer maker hailed a record year, posting a 29.5% jump in group pre-tax profit to £262.8m, beating the guidance of not less than £255m given in May.

Entain jumped as full-year revenue guidance for BetMGM - its joint venture with MGM Resorts - was boosted following a stronger-than-expected second quarter.

Construction and regeneration firm Morgan Sindall rallied as it highlighted another record first-half performance and lifted the medium-term targets for both the Fit Out and Construction divisions.

Shaftesbury gained as it reported interim growth in rents, earnings, dividends, valuation and EPRA NTA.

On the downside, Unite and Inchcape slumped after results, while Paragon Banking fell after a trading update.

Barclays Bank lost ground even as it reported a 23% rise in half-year profit and said it would start a £1bn share buyback as market volatility cause by US President Donald Trump's tariffs war boosted income.

Pre-tax profit came in at £5.2bn, while group income rose 12% to £14bn as trading in its global markets division boomed.

Greggs was weaker as it reported a 14% drop in first-half pre-tax profit, pinning part of the blame on the weather.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 9,092.67 0.12% FTSE 250 (MCX) 21,959.94 0.04% techMARK (TASX) 5,249.56 0.18%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Games Workshop Group (GAW) 15,540.00p 1.83% Croda International (CRDA) 2,931.00p 1.62% Melrose Industries (MRO) 518.80p 1.53% Diploma (DPLM) 5,290.00p 1.05% Fresnillo (FRES) 1,410.00p 1.00% Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 991.40p 0.98% Pershing Square Holdings Ltd NPV (PSH) 4,202.00p 0.91% Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,348.00p 0.90% Associated British Foods (ABF) 2,252.00p 0.90% International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 372.40p 0.84%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

National Grid (NG.) 1,043.50p -1.33% Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,986.50p -1.15% Rentokil Initial (RTO) 357.40p -1.00% Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 341.80p -0.98% JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 90.00p -0.95% Land Securities Group (LAND) 585.50p -0.85% Airtel Africa (AAF) 196.60p -0.81% Glencore (GLEN) 314.80p -0.79% SEGRO (SGRO) 651.40p -0.73% Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 300.60p -0.73%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Morgan Sindall Group (MGNS) 4,645.00p 4.15% Auction Technology Group (ATG) 513.00p 4.06% Bakkavor Group (BAKK) 250.00p 3.73% Diversified Energy Company (DEC) 1,165.00p 2.55% Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) 217.80p 2.54% Shaftesbury Capital (SHC) 159.30p 2.25% Marshalls (MSLH) 209.00p 1.95% Ibstock (IBST) 149.40p 1.91% Keller Group (KLR) 1,358.00p 1.80% HICL Infrastructure (HICL) 124.80p 1.63%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Paragon Banking Group (PAG) 889.00p -7.35% Inchcape (INCH) 749.00p -6.38% Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,340.50p -2.26% Greggs (GRG) 1,612.00p -2.01% Bluefield Solar Income Fund Limited (BSIF) 96.00p -1.03% NCC Group (NCC) 150.80p -0.92% Gamma Communications (GAMA) 1,086.00p -0.91% SSP Group (SSPG) 176.40p -0.90% Hays (HAS) 65.65p -0.83% Pacific Horizon Inv Trust (PHI) 645.00p -0.77%