London open: Stocks gain as BP, AstraZeneca rise on results

(Sharecast News) - London stocks rose in early trade on Friday despite disappointing earnings from Amazon and Intel overnight, amid well-received results from BP and AstraZeneca, and as investors mulled the latest UK house price data.

At 0840 GMT, the FTSE 100 was up 0.4% at 10,764.17, largely shrugging off an after-hours plunge in Amazon and Intel shares thanks to its minimal exposure to the tech sector.

Patrick Munnelly at Tickmill Group noted: "Technology shares suffered severe selling pressure for a second consecutive session as disappointing earnings from Amazon and Intel deepened doubts over the economics of the generative AI investment cycle.

"Nasdaq 100 futures slid 2.0% - extending the de-risking triggered earlier by Alphabet and Samsung - while capital rotated into US Treasuries, the Swiss franc, and the Japanese Yen. The retreat confirms a fundamental transition from thematic AI euphoria to rigorous cash-flow scrutiny."

On home shores, figures from Nationwide showed that house price growth was the slowest in October since 2024.

House prices rose 0.5% on the year, down from 0.8% growth in September. On the month, there was no change in October following a 0.3% decline the month before. The average price of a house stood at £273,566 this month, down from £274,251 in September.

Nationwide chief economist Robert Gardner said October's annual house price growth marked the weakest since January 2024.

"Market activity and house price growth have slowed in recent months, in part reflecting the uncertain economic backdrop," he said. "Geopolitical tensions remain high, with the conflict in the Middle East exerting upward pressure on energy prices, fanning inflation concerns.

"This in turn has led to mounting financial market expectations of Bank Rate increases, which have maintained upward pressure on the market interest rates which underpin mortgage pricing."

In equity markets, BP rallied as it posted a surge in third-quarter profit and a reduction in net debt amid rising refining margins.

Third-quarter underlying replacement cost profit - BP's core measure of income - rose to $8.46bn from $2.21bn in the same period a year earlier, beating expectations of $7.33bn. The oil giant said the jump is due mainly to significantly higher realised refining margins and a significantly higher gas and marketing trading result.

Operating cash flow rose to $14.8bn in Q3 from $7.8bn a year earlier, helping the company to cut net debt by $8.4bn to $13.9bn.

AstraZeneca was also a high riser as it posted a 7% jump in total revenue for the first nine months, with double-digit growth in oncology, R&I and rare disease offsetting headwinds from loss of exclusivity for Farxiga and Brilinta. It also announced a $1.5bn savings plan.

On the downside, NatWest slumped as it reported attributable profit of £1.5bn for the third quarter, down from £1.6bn a year earlier, while return on tangible equity slipped to 21.6% from 22.3% and earnings per share fell to 19.3p from 19.8p.

Airtel Africa slid despite reporting a rise in half-year revenue and profit.