(Sharecast News) - London stocks nudged higher in early trade on Wednesday, with property names lending support on news of a takeover bid for Segro.
At 0850 BST, the FTSE 100 was up 0.1% at 10,440.51.
Susannah Streeter, chief investment strategist at Wealth Club, said: "The global tech sell-off appears to have started to stabilise, but investors remain super-cautious, nervous that high valuations could be chipped away at again. Even a fresh easing of the energy crunch, with oil prices dipping further, isn't lifting sentiment much.
"The Footsie has had a flat start with investors searching for a sense of direction. Losses are still being nursed from the big tech names who've sucked up investors' savings this year."
On the political front, investors were mulling news that Andy Burnham is likely to replace Rachel Reeves as chancellor if he becomes prime minister. According to the BBC, Burnham will offer Reeves a more junior cabinet position.
Meanwhile, the US and Iran were offering conflicting accounts of their nuclear discussions.
According to the New York Times, President Trump said Iran had agreed to the "highest level" inspections, hours after an Iranian official said there were "no detailed discussions on the nuclear issue", as the two sides continued to present different narratives of their latest talks.
Oil prices were lower, with Brent crude down 1.2% at $76.16 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate off 1.2% at $72.31.
"With tanker traffic rising through the key Strait of Hormuz and big oil-producing nations increasing output, it's lifting hopes that energy shortages will be eased more quickly," said Streeter. "However, economies still won't have felt the full effects of the surge in prices in the Spring feeding through. There are also concerns that tolls could be imposed on the Strait of Hormuz, given that Iran and Oman are in discussions about how to manage the waterway going forward. This would add to shipping costs for the longer term and add to pressures for importers."
In equity markets, Segro surged to the top of the FTSE 100 as it emerged it had rebuffed a 12.6bn takeover approach from US real estate giant Prologis. The San Francisco-based business, a specialist in logistics facilities, first approached the blue chip earlier in June with an indicative all-share proposal.
Segro "unequivocally rejected" the approach, which values the issued ordinary share capital at around 12.6bn, Prologis confirmed. But it has urged shareholders to encourage Segro's board to engage with it, arguing that a combination would create a "compelling value proposition".
Land Securities, British Land, LondonMetric, Great Portland Estates, Tritax Big Box and Big Yellow all rallied on the news.
Housebuilder Berkeley Group was a high riser as it posted a drop in full-year pre-tax profit in line with guidance, and net cash comfortably ahead.
Primary Health Properties gained after confirming it was in advanced talks with an unnamed investor on the potential formation of a joint venture involving its private hospital portfolio. PHP said it has been exploring a range of options to enhance the long-term value of the portfolio, including potential joint venture arrangements with "highly credible" investors.
Retailer B&M European Value Retail nudged up as it has appointed Atheeq Akbar as its next chief financial officer, with the former Asda executive set to join the group in February 2027.
Rail travel platform Trainline slumped as it appointed Ian Brown as its next chief executive officer with effect from 28 September, succeeding Jody Ford. Brown was most recently CEO of the UK & Ireland division of Flutter Entertainment.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 10,440.51 0.11%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 22,961.30 0.15%
techMARK (TASX) 5,780.69 -0.05%
FTSE 100 - Risers
SEGRO (SGRO) 859.40p 15.77%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 649.00p 3.76%
British Land Company (BLND) 418.20p 3.59%
LondonMetric Property (LMP) 189.40p 3.17%
Haleon (HLN) 340.10p 1.89%
Weir Group (WEIR) 2,386.00p 1.87%
Croda International (CRDA) 3,134.00p 1.72%
Persimmon (PSN) 1,051.50p 1.60%
St James's Place (STJ) 1,158.00p 1.26%
Barratt Redrow (BTRW) 266.50p 1.06%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Airtel Africa (AAF) 337.80p -3.33%
Flutter Entertainment (DI) (FLTR) 7,374.00p -2.69%
London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) 8,160.00p -2.37%
The Sage Group (SGE) 795.60p -1.82%
Relx plc (REL) 2,313.00p -1.74%
BAE Systems (BA.) 1,801.00p -1.42%
Babcock International Group (BAB) 987.20p -1.42%
Prudential (PRU) 998.80p -1.32%
Entain (ENT) 550.60p -1.29%
Halma (HLMA) 3,836.00p -1.08%
FTSE 250 - Risers
IP Group (IPO) 70.00p 7.03%
Harworth Group (HWG) 127.40p 5.64%
Tritax Big Box Reit (BBOX) 160.90p 5.60%
W.A.G Payment Solutions (EWG) 107.80p 5.07%
AO World (AO.) 90.50p 4.75%
Wetherspoon (J.D.) (JDW) 700.00p 4.63%
Big Yellow Group (BYG) 896.00p 4.19%
Great Portland Estates (GPE) 327.00p 4.01%
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 3,630.00p 3.99%
Rank Group (RNK) 102.80p 3.94%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
WPP (WPP) 246.60p -5.51%
Trainline (TRN) 201.80p -4.93%
Bytes Technology Group (BYIT) 347.00p -4.93%
Chemring Group (CHG) 478.00p -3.91%
Diversified Energy Company (DI) (DEC) 972.00p -2.80%
Edinburgh Worldwide Inv Trust (EWI) 267.00p -2.73%
RTW Biotech Opportunities Ltd (RTW) 2.24p -2.23%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 170.40p -1.96%
QinetiQ Group (QQ.) 423.00p -1.94%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 504.00p -1.84%
32.78 (0.31%)
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