London open: FTSE nudges lower; Sainsbury's, HSBC in the red

(Sharecast News) - London stocks nudged lower in early trade on Wednesday as investors eyed the latest US ADP employment numbers amid expectations of a rate cut from the Federal Reserve next week.

At 0830 GMT, the FTSE 100 was down 0.1% at 9,689.46.

Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor, said: "Despite a persistent level of inflation which remains stubbornly above the Fed's target, the recent weakness in the labour market may have forced its hand in turning attention to the second part of its dual mandate.

"While not normally taken as an especially accurate indicator, the ADP employment number will be scrutinised for trends, with just 10,000 jobs expected to have been added in November, down from 42,000 in October.

"The reason for the additional interest relates to the lack of non-farm payrolls data given the government shutdown, where the October and November prints are expected to be released simultaneously on 16 December, which could inject some year-end volatility depending on the readings."

In equity markets, Sainsbury's slumped after JPMorgan Securities said after the close on Tuesday that the Qatar Investment Authority was planning to sell up to 97.5m shares in the supermarket chain. QIA had been Sainsbury's largest shareholder, with a stake of 10.5%.

HSBC was in the red as it named former KPMG partner Brendan Nelson chair. Nelson, 76, has served as interim chair since 1 October. HSBC said the accountant had been appointed following a "robust" process, with both internal and external candidates considered. However, some City watchers had expected a more-high profile figure to fill the role.

Private hospital operator Spire Healthcare tumbled as it warned full-year earnings would come in at the bottom end of guidance, pointing to a slowdown in NHS commissioning.

Paragon Banking fell as the specialist lender reported lower-than-expected annual earnings amid what it called "stop-start" customer demand due to political uncertainties, and increased its potential liability for the car financing scandal to �25.5m.

Trainline tanked after a downgrade to 'underweight' from 'neutral' at JPMorgan, while Travis Perkins was knocked lower by a downgrade to 'underperform' at Jefferies.

On the upside, Smiths Group rallied after saying it has agreed to sell its Detection business to CVC Capital Partners for an enterprise value of �2bn as it looks to focus on premium industrial engineering. Smiths said it plans to return a large portion of the net cash proceeds to shareholders.

Engineer Senior rose after saying it has won a multi-year contract by Airbus to design and make parts to transport fluids on dual and single aisle commercial aircraft.

Berkeley Group was boosted by an upgrade to 'buy' at Jefferies, while Drax powered ahead after an upgrade to 'buy' from 'neutral' at Citi.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 9,689.46 -0.13%

FTSE 250 (MCX) 21,945.86 -0.16%

techMARK (TASX) 5,536.74 0.07%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Smiths Group (SMIN) 2,494.00p 2.63%

Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 3,664.00p 2.06%

Antofagasta (ANTO) 2,822.00p 1.84%

Diageo (DGE) 1,747.50p 1.33%

Airtel Africa (AAF) 322.80p 1.32%

GSK (GSK) 1,841.50p 1.24%

Rio Tinto (RIO) 5,482.00p 1.20%

Fresnillo (FRES) 2,760.00p 1.17%

Glencore (GLEN) 364.50p 1.15%

Spirax Group (SPX) 6,715.00p 1.13%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 313.20p -3.93%

Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 333.90p -1.82%

Tesco (TSCO) 449.90p -1.51%

HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 1,076.20p -1.07%

Flutter Entertainment (DI) (FLTR) 15,815.00p -0.91%

Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 96.48p -0.90%

BT Group (BT.A) 176.75p -0.90%

Barclays (BARC) 432.95p -0.79%

Aviva (AV.) 639.60p -0.78%

Centrica (CNA) 168.25p -0.77%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Zigup (ZIG) 375.00p 10.13%

Me Group International (MEGP) 169.60p 4.69%

Drax Group (DRX) 759.00p 4.26%

Bluefield Solar Income Fund Limited (BSIF) 73.00p 3.84%

Ashmore Group (ASHM) 167.20p 2.33%

C&C Group (CDI) (CCR) 129.00p 2.22%

Foresight Group Holdings Limited NPV (FSG) 417.50p 1.95%

Mony Group (MONY) 192.20p 1.91%

Senior (SNR) 185.40p 1.53%

Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) 128.80p 1.42%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Spire Healthcare Group (SPI) 194.00p -13.20%

Trainline (TRN) 202.80p -10.50%

Paragon Banking Group (PAG) 795.50p -5.80%

Frasers Group (FRAS) 717.00p -4.53%

Travis Perkins (TPK) 605.00p -3.51%

TBC Bank Group (TBCG) 3,995.00p -2.80%

Foresight Solar Fund Limited (FSFL) 63.40p -2.76%

SDCL Efficiency Income Trust (SEIT) 61.00p -2.40%

Ibstock (IBST) 130.00p -2.26%

Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 1,127.00p -2.09%