London open: Stocks rise on US debt ceiling hopes

(Sharecast News) - London stocks rose in early trade on Thursday, taking their cue from an upbeat session on Wall Street amid US debt ceiling hopes. At 0835 BST, the FTSE 100 was up 0.5% at 7,760.50.

CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson noted that US markets finished their session strongly higher, "taking their cues from comments from US President Biden expressing confidence that a deal would ultimately be agreed, confidence that was echoed by House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy".

In equity markets, medical products company Convatec gained as it lifted its full-year organic revenue guidance.

Aston Martin rallied after Chinese auto group Geely committed to invest £234m in the luxury car maker, to become its third-largest shareholder.

Vistry rose after the housebuilder said it expected to report adjust annual earnings of more than £450m as the market continued to improve in the wake of the disastrous 'mini budget' of former prime minister Liz Truss.

On the downside, telecoms giant BT Group tumbled after saying it planned to axe up to 55,000 jobs by 2030 and become a "leaner" business.

The news came as it reported adjusted core earnings up 5% to £7.9bn. On a pre-tax basis, BT posted a 12% fall in profit to £1.7bn due to increased depreciation from network build and specific items, partially offset by adjusted EBITDA growth.

Luxury fashion brand Burberry was also under the cosh despite posting a rise in full-year profit as revenues in the fourth quarter were boosted by a rebound in the Chinese market.

Royal Mail owner International Distributions Services was down after saying it swung to a hefty full-year loss after a bruising year-long battle with unions over pay and conditions. Royal Mail posted an adjusted operating loss of £419m, compared with a profit of £416m due to industrial action by the Communication Workers Union, lower test kit volumes and a weaker online retail market.

Budget airline easyJet was little changed after it expressed confidence about the summer season as it reported a narrowing of its first-half losses, in line with guidance.

Bunzl, GlaxoSmithKline, Unilever and PageGroup all fell as they traded without entitlement to the dividend.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,760.50 0.48% FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,263.67 0.25% techMARK (TASX) 4,677.66 -0.22%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Convatec Group (CTEC) 222.20p 3.25% JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 166.65p 2.24% BP (BP.) 486.55p 1.71% Persimmon (PSN) 1,342.00p 1.71% Melrose Industries (MRO) 495.80p 1.60% Ashtead Group (AHT) 4,873.00p 1.54% Experian (EXPN) 2,777.00p 1.54% DCC (CDI) (DCC) 4,928.00p 1.44% Halma (HLMA) 2,480.00p 1.43% Barratt Developments (BDEV) 507.00p 1.40%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

BT Group (BT.A) 135.65p -8.41% Burberry Group (BRBY) 2,399.00p -4.80% Bunzl (BNZL) 3,126.00p -1.14% National Grid (NG.) 1,130.50p -0.88% GSK (GSK) 1,431.80p -0.73% Unilever (ULVR) 4,293.50p -0.50% Anglo American (AAL) 2,360.50p -0.40% Endeavour Mining (EDV) 2,010.00p -0.40% Vodafone Group (VOD) 82.07p -0.33% Centrica (CNA) 119.45p -0.25%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 281.00p 21.54% Mitchells & Butlers (MAB) 210.20p 5.58% Genuit Group (GEN) 313.50p 5.20% ASOS (ASC) 445.00p 3.49% Network International Holdings (NETW) 376.00p 3.47% Pets at Home Group (PETS) 395.00p 3.40% Vistry Group (VTY) 838.50p 3.01% Drax Group (DRX) 628.00p 2.38% Tritax Big Box Reit (BBOX) 151.00p 2.37% Jupiter Fund Management (JUP) 120.50p 2.29%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Future (FUTR) 935.00p -10.61% Energean (ENOG) 1,136.00p -8.09% International Distributions Services (IDS) 212.20p -4.50% Baltic Classifieds Group (BCG) 156.80p -2.61% Ithaca Energy (ITH) 156.60p -2.25% Hunting (HTG) 200.50p -2.20% Bodycote (BOY) 680.00p -2.09% Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 160.70p -1.92% Pagegroup (PAGE) 435.00p -1.89% CMC Markets (CMCX) 178.00p -1.44%