London open: FTSE nudges up as investors await fresh catalysts

(Sharecast News) - London stocks were just a smidgen higher in early trade on Thursday amid a dearth of market-moving news.

At 0830 BST, the FTSE 100 was up 0.1% at 8,726.08.

Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "A sense of calm has descended on markets this morning as high-stakes drama on the global stage took the night off. The FTSE 100 opened broadly flat as investors wait for fresh catalysts.

"US markets took a pause yesterday as investors digested recent gains, and low trading volume sapped momentum. Futures suggest a positive open later today, though, as the S&P 500 moves ever closer to fresh all-time highs. Easing tensions in the Middle East, the potential for rate cuts coming later this year, and stabilising oil prices are helping support a relatively positive outlook for equities despite all the background noise."

In equity markets, heavily-weighted miners were among the biggest gainers as copper prices rose, with Rio Tinto, Anglo American and Antofagasta all up.

Ladbrokes owner Entain was the top performer on the FTSE 100 after an upgrade to 'buy' at Goldman Sachs.

Car dealership Inchcape rose as it reiterated its full-year outlook and hailed a resilient operating performance in the first half.

Serco also gained as it reported a "strong" first-half performance and announced the appointment of Keith Williams as a non-executive director and board chair designate. Williams is currently chair of Halfords.

Oil giants Shell and BP were in focus after Shell said it had "no intention" of making an offer for its rival.

In a brief statement in response to media speculation on Wednesday, the company said it has not been actively considering making an offer for BP, it has not made an approach and no talks have taken place with regards to a possible offer.

Derren Nathan, head of equity research at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "Structurally lower oil prices are causing the majors to look at their options, but given Shell's superior asset quality and balance sheet, any combination may be difficult for its shareholders to stomach.

"Cherry picking some flagship assets could be another option, but that's unlikely to satisfy BP investors. For now, the focus for Shell is likely to remain on buying back its own shares."

On the downside, British American Tobacco was the worst performer on the top-flight index as it traded without entitlement to the dividend. B&M, Premier Foods, Templeton, Sirius Real Estate and Ocean Wilsons also fell as they went ex-dividend.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 8,726.08 0.08%

FTSE 250 (MCX) 21,312.65 0.07%

techMARK (TASX) 5,041.69 0.26%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Entain (ENT) 871.20p 1.87%

Fresnillo (FRES) 1,459.00p 1.39%

Rio Tinto (RIO) 4,179.00p 1.33%

Anglo American (AAL) 2,032.00p 1.32%

Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,746.00p 1.16%

NATWEST GROUP (NWG) 510.00p 1.07%

Convatec Group (CTEC) 293.20p 1.03%

Prudential (PRU) 927.00p 0.96%

JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 79.14p 0.92%

Beazley (BEZ) 941.00p 0.91%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

British American Tobacco (BATS) 3,446.00p -2.02%

Melrose Industries (MRO) 513.00p -1.38%

CRH (CDI) (CRH) 6,472.00p -1.19%

Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 1,011.50p -1.08%

Smurfit Westrock (DI) (SWR) 3,098.00p -1.02%

Relx plc (REL) 3,878.00p -0.67%

Alliance Witan (ALW) 1,208.00p -0.66%

Unilever (ULVR) 4,474.00p -0.62%

F&C Investment Trust (FCIT) 1,095.00p -0.45%

Games Workshop Group (GAW) 15,910.00p -0.31%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Morgan Advanced Materials (MGAM) 216.50p 2.61%

Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) 129.30p 2.38%

Inchcape (INCH) 697.00p 2.35%

Hochschild Mining (HOC) 254.60p 2.33%

Ibstock (IBST) 159.00p 2.32%

Serco Group (SRP) 198.00p 2.27%

Bakkavor Group (BAKK) 225.00p 2.04%

Quilter (QLT) 158.30p 1.80%

Endeavour Mining (EDV) 2,284.00p 1.69%

QinetiQ Group (QQ.) 482.00p 1.52%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Moonpig Group (MOON) 224.00p -8.01%

B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 266.40p -3.79%

Hill and Smith (HILS) 1,676.00p -2.22%

Sirius Real Estate Ltd. (SRE) 94.35p -1.97%

Templeton Emerging Markets Inv Trust (TEM) 186.20p -1.90%

TR Property Inv Trust (TRY) 332.00p -1.48%

British Land Company (BLND) 372.80p -1.48%

Premier Foods (PFD) 197.00p -1.40%

Savills (SVS) 967.00p -1.02%

Ocean Wilsons Holdings Ltd. (OCN) 1,520.00p -0.98%