London open: Gains muted as miners slump; HSBC results in focus

(Sharecast News) - London stocks nudged higher in early trade on Tuesday, with gains muted amid weakness in the mining sector, as investors digested quarterly results from HSBC and the latest shop price data from the BRC.

At 0830 GMT, the FTSE 100 was 0.1% firmer at 9,661.29.

Derren Nathan, head of equity research at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "The FTSE 100 is up slightly this morning, after closing flat yesterday. Softness in commodity prices isn't helping, and the absence of big tech names means it's missed out on the tailwinds blowing on the other side of the Atlantic. US stock futures are steady, after Monday saw fresh highs on Wall Street with the tech-heavy Nasdaq leading the way.

"Microchip designer Qualcomm grabbed investors' attention with the launch of AI chips for data centres and an initial customer win in Saudi Arabia. It's a tough ask to go head-to-head with a titan like Nvidia but the focus of its AI200 and AI250 chips on inference and power efficiency for models that have already been trained looks a sensible move. Investors embraced the move away from more cyclical consumer electronics, with an 11% rise in the share price. But it's not Qualcomm's first foray into the data centre market and once again execution will be the big challenge.

"There are hopes that trade relations between Washington and Beijing can thaw when Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping meet in South Korea later this week. Trade deal progress has been difficult but successful discussions could pave the way for lighter export restrictions on advanced technology to China, as well as preventing proposed Chinese tariffs on rare-earth minerals that are essential for semiconductor fabrication. Meanwhile, markets are all-but-certain of a quarter point cut by the Federal Reserve Bank tomorrow, and confidence in another similar cut in December is high."

Wednesday will be a big day on the US corporate front, with quarterly earnings due from Microsoft, Meta and Alphabet, while Thursday will see the release of earnings from Amazon and Apple.

On home shores, the latest figures from the British Retail Consortium and NielsenIQ showed that increased competition among retailers and widespread discounting resulted in a slowdown in UK shop price inflation in October.

Shop prices were up 1.0% year-on-year in October, with growth slowing from 1.4% in September, the BRC-NIQ Shop Price Monitor showed.

Non-food prices fell by 0.4%, following a 0.1% fall in September, while food inflation eased to 3.7% from 4.2%, as a pickup in fresh food inflation to 4.3% from 4.1% was offset by a sharp drop in ambient food inflation to 2.9% from 4.2%.

"Easing global sugar prices helped to bring down prices of chocolate and confectionary, a treat for those preparing Halloween parties," said BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson. "Beyond food, discounts came early to electricals and health and beauty, as retailers started promotions ahead of Black Friday month."

Dickinson said that, ahead of the Budget announced in late-November, the government needs to relieve cost pressures on both consumers and retailers.

"Labour's promised business rates reform must deliver a meaningful cut to retailers' rates bills, and ensure that no store pays more. Rising employer National Insurance Contributions and a new packaging tax have directly contributed towards rising inflation, according to the Bank of England. Adding further taxes on retail businesses would inevitably keep inflation higher for longer."

In equity markets, Airtel Africa shot to the top of the FTSE 100 after it posted a sharp jump in half-year core earnings on the back of surging revenues and an increase in customer numbers.

HSBC was also in the black even as it reported a fall in third-quarter profits as a $1.1bn legal charge weighed on the bottom line.

Pre-tax profit for the three months to September fell 14% to $7.3bn. Net interest income for the quarter rose 15% year on year to $8.8bn, driven by a 30% jump in income from its wealth division to $2.68bn.

Operating expenses rose 24%, as it set aside provisions including $1.1bn after losing an appeal in a long-running lawsuit in Luxembourg related to Bernard Madoff's multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme.

On the downside, heavily-weighted miners were a drag amid weaker metals prices, with Glencore, Rio Tinto and Anglo American among the worst performers on the FTSE 100.

Precious metals miner Fresnillo and gold miners Hochschild and Endeavour all lost their shine as gold prices fell back.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 9,661.29 0.08%

FTSE 250 (MCX) 22,517.66 0.03%

techMARK (TASX) 5,580.75 0.10%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Airtel Africa (AAF) 245.00p 6.24%

Spirax Group (SPX) 7,195.00p 2.49%

HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 1,027.40p 2.33%

JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 100.40p 1.03%

London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) 9,942.00p 1.02%

Beazley (BEZ) 919.00p 0.82%

Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 1,780.00p 0.74%

Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,480.00p 0.65%

Unilever (ULVR) 4,696.00p 0.60%

GSK (GSK) 1,649.50p 0.58%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Fresnillo (FRES) 2,034.00p -3.24%

Rio Tinto (RIO) 5,271.00p -1.27%

Glencore (GLEN) 343.85p -1.06%

Anglo American (AAL) 2,811.00p -0.74%

Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 87.20p -0.73%

British American Tobacco (BATS) 3,884.00p -0.69%

BP (BP.) 433.00p -0.69%

Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 1,112.50p -0.67%

Ashtead Group (AHT) 5,144.00p -0.66%

Shell (SHEL) 2,813.50p -0.65%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Bakkavor Group (BAKK) 235.00p 3.07%

THG (THG) 48.38p 2.15%

Quilter (QLT) 184.30p 2.11%

AO World (AO.) 108.40p 2.07%

Syncona Limited NPV (SYNC) 102.00p 2.00%

Pollen Street Group Limited (POLN) 880.00p 1.62%

Oxford Biomedica (OXB) 630.00p 1.61%

Investec (INVP) 596.00p 1.53%

VinaCapital Vietnam Opportunity Fund Ltd. (VOF) 480.00p 1.48%

Avon Technologies (AVON) 1,950.00p 1.46%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Hochschild Mining (HOC) 317.20p -3.76%

Endeavour Mining (EDV) 2,920.00p -3.25%

4Imprint Group (FOUR) 3,310.00p -2.93%

Bodycote (BOY) 649.50p -2.62%

Diversified Energy Company (DEC) 988.50p -2.42%

W.A.G Payment Solutions (EWG) 95.00p -1.45%

Foresight Environmental Infrastructure Limited (FGEN) 69.00p -1.43%

Senior (SNR) 187.40p -1.06%

Ithaca Energy (ITH) 206.00p -0.96%

Hill and Smith (HILS) 2,150.00p -0.92%