London open: FTSE edges lower amid Hormuz uncertainty

(Sharecast News) - London stocks edged lower in early trade on Monday amid continued uncertainty over the reopening of the vital Strait of Hormuz.

At 0830 BST, the FTSE 100 was 0.2% lower at 10,882.34, while Brent crude was up 0.6% at $84.05 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate was 0.4% higher at $78.51.

Danske Bank said: "There were signs of progress towards an Iran-Oman shipping agreement on reopening the Strait of Hormuz, with Iranian Foreign Minister Araghchi confirming that talks with Oman are in their final stages.

"However, he was explicit that a deal would not automatically translate into a reopening of the waterway. Furthermore, Tehran tied a full reopening to further US concessions, including US force withdrawals, war damage compensation and sanctions relief."

On the corporate front, Plus500 shot higher as the fintech kept its full-year outlook unchanged after delivering record interim numbers, with revenue up 12% year-on-year to $462.9m, customer income rising 24% to a fiveyear high of $460.8m, and EBITDA edging up 1% to $187.5m.

Housebuilder Persimmon rose following an upgrade to 'buy' from 'hold' at Deutsche Bank.

On the downside, landscaping and building products manufacturer Marshalls fell as it posted a rise in first-half profit but a dip in revenue, and said it assumes no material market recovery in the second half.

Vistry tumbled following a report that leading credit insurer Allianz Trade is reducing the cover it extends to suppliers of the housebuilder.

According to the Financial Times, citing people familiar with the decision, the insurer warned suppliers in recent weeks that it is adjusting its credit limits for Vistry. One of the sources said the final level of cover provided will depend on Vistry's financial performance in the weeks ahead.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 10,882.34 -0.17%

FTSE 250 (MCX) 24,853.25 -0.01%

techMARK (TASX) 6,161.51 -0.12%

FTSE 100 - Risers

IG Group Holdings (IGG) 1,364.00p 1.64%

Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 1,414.50p 1.40%

St James's Place (STJ) 1,159.00p 1.39%

Glencore (GLEN) 565.50p 1.26%

AstraZeneca (AZN) 12,034.00p 1.06%

Persimmon (PSN) 1,162.00p 0.94%

ICG (ICG) 2,050.00p 0.69%

Antofagasta (ANTO) 4,002.00p 0.60%

Halma (HLMA) 3,812.00p 0.58%

BP (BP.) 519.40p 0.44%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 4,836.00p -2.54%

Metlen Energy & Metals (MTLN) 49.32p -1.32%

Admiral Group (ADM) 3,838.00p -1.29%

Legal & General Group (LGEN) 311.40p -1.26%

BT Group (BT.A) 197.40p -1.03%

British American Tobacco (BATS) 4,378.00p -1.02%

Diageo (DGE) 1,773.50p -0.89%

Autotrader Group (AUTO) 516.00p -0.81%

Bunzl (BNZL) 2,848.00p -0.77%

Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,105.00p -0.72%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Plus500 Ltd (DI) (PLUS) 3,960.00p 4.95%

Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 36.70p 4.26%

AEP Plantations (AEP) 181.60p 2.83%

XP Power Ltd. (DI) (XPP) 1,820.00p 2.48%

SSP Group (SSPG) 212.80p 2.43%

Edinburgh Worldwide Inv Trust (EWI) 253.50p 2.42%

GCP Infrastructure Investments Ltd (GCP) 83.50p 2.08%

Seraphim Space Investment Trust (SSIT) 192.00p 2.02%

Playtech (PTEC) 366.60p 1.80%

Raspberry PI Holdings (RPI) 709.50p 1.79%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Vistry Group (VTY) 260.60p -6.77%

Oxford Biomedica (OXB) 486.50p -2.28%

SDCL Efficiency Income Trust (SEIT) 38.10p -2.06%

OSB Group (OSB) 511.50p -2.02%

Schroder Asia Pacific Fund (SDP) 805.00p -1.71%

HICL Infrastructure (HICL) 137.00p -1.44%

Edinburgh Inv Trust (EDIN) 849.00p -1.39%

WPP (WPP) 404.10p -1.36%

The Schiehallion Fund Limited NPV (MNTN) 2.01p -1.35%

Globaldata (DATA) 85.70p -1.27%