London open: FTSE rallies after strong US, Asian sessions; NatWest jumps on results

(Sharecast News) - London stocks rallied in early trade on Friday following strong gains in the US and Asia, underpinned by well-received results from NatWest and IMI, as investors mulled the latest quarterly numbers from Apple and Amazon.

At 0853 BST, the FTSE 100 was up 0.8% at 10,979.96, having another fresh intraday high, of 10,985.46.

Meanwhile, Brent crude was down 0.9% at $88.24 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate was 1.2% lower at $82.59.

Patrick Munnelly at Tickmill Group said: "Amazon delivered the cleanest positive signal. Its shares rose more than 9% after-hours after second-quarter revenue beat forecasts, supported by strong growth in cloud computing. That matters because cloud strength is one of the more direct channels through which investors can validate AI infrastructure spending. After a week in which AI capex concerns battered semiconductors and platform stocks, Amazon's result gave the market a reason to believe the demand side of the investment cycle is still intact.

"Apple, by contrast, reminded investors that the tech tape remains uneven. Shares fell more than 6% after services revenue missed expectations and its revenue-growth forecast fell short of analyst expectations, with chip production challenges weighing on the outlook. The company still beat third-quarter revenue estimates, helped by a 22% jump in iPhone sales, but the market is currently unforgiving toward any weakness in guidance, supply constraints or margin visibility."

On home shores, the latest data from Nationwide showed that annual house price growth eased in July.

House prices rose 1.8% on the year, down from 2.2% growth in June. On the month, prices were up 0.1% in June, following no growth the month before. The average price of a home was �277,542 in July, up from �277,484.

Nationwide chief economist Robert Gardner said: "Market activity and house prices have remained soft in recent months, in part reflecting the uncertain economic backdrop. Geopolitical tensions remain high, with the conflict between Iran and the US again exerting upward pressure on energy prices and market interest rates in recent weeks. Financial market expectations for the future path of Bank Rate have been volatile, reflecting shifting views about the inflationary implications of events at home and abroad.

"Despite the ongoing risks from the latest energy price shock, the Monetary Policy Committee can take some comfort from the fact that consumer price inflation declined further in June. Signs that wage growth has continued to ease gives policymakers more breathing space to assess the extent to which tighter policy is necessary to ensure inflation returns to target."

In equity markets, NatWest shot higher as it reported strong half-year earnings driven by a jump in net interest income. Profit for the half year to 30 June rose 19% to �3.1bn with net interest income up 12% to �6.9bn. The bank said it was expecting a return on tangible equity of more than 19% for the full year and would consider share buybacks from full year 2026, six months earlier than previously planned.

Sainsbury's was also in the black after agreeing to sell Argos to newly-formed retail vehicle Swift Partners - whose shareholders include former Co-op Group CEO Richard Pennycook - for �120m.

IMI gained as the engineer backed its full-year guidance and hailed a strong first-half performance.

Miners Anglo American, Antofagasta and Glencore were among the top performers as copper prices ticked higher.

On the downside, Melrose tumbled as it warned it expects to take a hit of between �25m and �30m in the second half after an incident at its Garden Grove facility in California.

Taylor Wimpey was under the cosh as the housebuilder trimmed its forecast for annual home completions, reported a decline in first-half profit and completions, and said it was reducing shareholder returns due to a more prolonged than expected downturn in the housing market.

IG Group slid after saying late on Thursday that it had agreed to buy US daily fantasy sports and prediction markets operator Underdog for up to $1.3bn.

IAG flew lower as it posted a drop in first-half profit amid surging fuel costs, while educational publisher Pearson also lost ground after results.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 10,979.96 0.76%

FTSE 250 (MCX) 24,202.43 0.51%

techMARK (TASX) 6,125.73 1.12%

FTSE 100 - Risers

NATWEST GROUP (NWG) 709.40p 4.07%

Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 367.30p 3.85%

IMI (IMI) 3,046.00p 3.60%

Antofagasta (ANTO) 3,827.00p 3.48%

Anglo American (AAL) 3,851.00p 3.38%

BAE Systems (BA.) 2,107.00p 3.07%

Halma (HLMA) 3,646.00p 2.46%

Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 1,488.40p 2.46%

Glencore (GLEN) 551.20p 2.21%

Rio Tinto (RIO) 7,282.00p 2.14%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Melrose Industries (MRO) 451.60p -5.37%

IG Group Holdings (IGG) 1,601.00p -5.33%

Pearson (PSON) 1,256.00p -2.74%

International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 429.30p -1.94%

Relx plc (REL) 2,618.00p -1.72%

Unilever (ULVR) 4,782.00p -1.35%

JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 92.36p -1.35%

Entain (ENT) 542.40p -1.27%

Compass Group 11 (CPG) 31.49p -1.25%

Vodafone Group (VOD) 117.90p -1.00%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Ceres Power Holdings (CWR) 377.20p 10.77%

Pacific Horizon Inv Trust (PHI) 1,070.00p 6.79%

Fidelity Emerging Markets Limited Ptg NPV (FEML) 1,414.00p 5.05%

XP Power Ltd. (DI) (XPP) 1,688.00p 4.93%

Templeton Emerging Markets Inv Trust (TEM) 310.50p 4.54%

Raspberry PI Holdings (RPI) 694.00p 4.36%

Polar Capital Technology Trust (PCT) 638.00p 4.17%

AEP Plantations (AEP) 179.00p 4.09%

Morgan Advanced Materials (MGAM) 234.50p 3.98%

JPMorgan Emerging Markets Growth & Income (JMGI) 163.20p 3.82%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Dr. Martens (DOCS) 73.30p -5.66%

Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 79.32p -5.28%

Greggs (GRG) 1,960.00p -3.35%

Vistry Group (VTY) 290.20p -2.24%

SDCL Efficiency Income Trust (SEIT) 37.55p -1.83%

The Renewables Infrastructure Group Limited (TRIG) 75.90p -1.69%

HGCapital Trust (HGT) 382.00p -1.67%

Neuberger Private Equity Partners Limited (NBPE) 1,436.00p -1.64%

Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 3,484.00p -1.59%

Capital Gearing Trust (CGT) 513.00p -1.35%