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London open: Stocks rise as investors eye inflation readings
London stocks rose in early trade on Monday following heavy losses at the end of last week, as investors looked ahead to inflation readings this week in the UK and US.
At 0820 GMT, the FTSE 100 was up 0.4% at 7,387.78.
Danske Bank said: “The most important release this week will likely be US CPI for October on Tuesday, which is extra uncertain this month due to possible effects from the auto workers’ strike as well as technical factors relating to health insurance premiums.
“Also worth watching is US retail sales on Thursday after the very strong September-print. The week also features a long-expected Xi-Biden meeting on Wednesday along with a string of Chinese data and a possible Chinese rate cut, and UK job and inflation reports.”
Data released earlier by Rightmove showed that house prices fell sharply in November as sellers trimmed expectations to secure sales.
According to the latest house price index, the average new selling asking price dropped 1.7% in November to £362,143. It was the steepest November drop since 2018. Annually, prices fell 1.3%.
That compares to a 0.5% monthly uptick in October, and 0.8% fall year-on-year.
Rightmove said that with Christmas now approaching, sellers were cutting prices as they look to attracted cash-strapped buyers.
Agreed sales were 10% below 2019’s pre-pandemic market, although that is an improvement on October, when agreed sales were 15% below 2019.
Tim Bannister, director of property science at Rightmove, said: “We’d expect to see a drop in new seller asking prices in the last couple of the months of the year, as serious sellers start to cut through the Christmas noise with an attractive price to secure a buyer.
“However, the larger-than-usual drop this month signals that among the usual pricing seasonality, we are starting to see more new sellers come to market with more enticing prices.
“Buyers are still out there, but for many their affordability is much reduced due to higher mortgage rates.”
In equity markets, insurer Phoenix Group jumped to the top of the FTSE 100 as it lifted its full-year cash generation targets after completing the funds merger of its Standard Life and Phoenix Life businesses into a single entity.
British Land rallied as it reported a decline in half-year net asset value but said rental value growth was set to be at the top end of its previously guided ranges for FY24.
Aerospace giant BAE Systems was little changed as it said it was trading in line with expectations after a strong third quarter, with £10bn in orders booked since the half-year stage.
Elsewhere, Kainos tanked even as it posted a rise in first-half profit and revenue and hailed continued strong growth across its key business areas.
FMD Group tumbled as it warned that its 2024 performance will be impacted by a lower -than-expected number of consultants assigned to clients at the beginning of the year.
International Distribution Services was in the red after Ofcom fined Royal Mail £5.6m for missing postal delivery targets in the last financial year “by a significant and unexplained margin”.
Top 10 FTSE 100 Risers
| Sponsored by Plus500 |
|
| # | Name | Change Pct | Change | Cur Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  |
Phoenix Group Holdings Plc | +7.35% | +34.10 | 498.30 |
| 2 |  |
British Land Company Plc | +5.96% | +18.70 | 332.40 |
| 3 |  |
Land Securities Group Plc | +2.47% | +14.80 | 614.60 |
| 4 |  |
Melrose Industries Plc | +2.37% | +12.20 | 527.20 |
| 5 |  |
Smith & Nephew Plc | +2.07% | +20.50 | 1,009.50 |
| 6 |  |
Carnival Plc | +1.97% | +17.80 | 920.40 |
| 7 |  |
Marks And Spencer Group Plc | +1.87% | +4.60 | 251.00 |
| 8 |  |
Easyjet Plc | +1.85% | +7.30 | 401.40 |
| 9 |  |
Astrazeneca Plc | +1.80% | +182.00 | 10,272.00 |
| 10 |  |
Flutter Entertainment Plc | +1.65% | +200.00 | 12,355.00 |
Top 10 FTSE 100 Fallers
| Sponsored by Plus500 |
|
| # | Name | Change Pct | Change | Cur Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  |
Johnson Matthey Plc | -1.62% | -25.00 | 1,515.00 |
| 2 |  |
Diageo Plc | -0.47% | -13.50 | 2,836.50 |
| 3 |  |
St. James’s Place Plc | -0.22% | -1.40 | 648.80 |
| 4 |  |
Sage Group Plc | -0.14% | -1.40 | 992.60 |
| 5 |  |
Halma Plc | -0.10% | -2.00 | 1,929.50 |
| 6 |  |
Hargreaves Lansdown Plc | -0.08% | -0.60 | 712.80 |
| 7 |  |
Burberry Group Plc | -0.06% | -1.00 | 1,676.50 |
| 8 |  |
Spirax-sarco Engineering Plc | -0.02% | -2.00 | 8,534.00 |
| 9 |  |
Croda International Plc | -0.02% | -1.00 | 4,507.00 |
| 10 |  |
Nmc Health Plc | -0.00% | -0.00 | 938.40 |
Monday newspaper round-up: Co-op, Issa brothers, Victoria
The boss of Co-op is calling on the government to take more action to tackle retail crime amid a warning it has reached record levels as criminal gangs are operating “exempt from consequences”. Co-op said its latest data showed that of the nearly 3,000 occasions this year where security teams detained serious offenders in its stores, the police failed to show up almost four-fifths of the time, leading to a “dangerous pressure cooker” environment that puts store workers and communities at risk. – Guardian
The great property sell-off by landlords has continued across Great Britain this year, in particular in Scotland, where the buy-to-let bubble appears to have burst. As the property website Rightmove reported that new seller asking prices dropped by 1.7% or £6,088 last month to an average of £362,143, Hamptons revealed that landlords were on target to have bought the fewest number of homes since 2010 – once the period of the first Covid lockdown is discounted from the data. – Guardian
The billionaire owners of Asda have signed a multimillion-pound deal with Tesla to launch ultra-fast charging outlets for electric vehicles (EVs) across their petrol station empire. EG Group, owned by the brothers Mohsin and Zuber Issa, has agreed a deal with Tesla to roll out the chargers across thousands of their sites in the UK and Europe. – Telegraph
The former boss of one of Britain’s best-known venture capital firms is preparing to make a City comeback after abruptly stepping down from the company he co-founded. Filings at Companies House show that Dominic Perks, who previously ran Hambro Perks, has set up a business called Lexham Capital Partners. It marks the first significant move by Perks, 46, since he left his eponymous venture capital business in April. – The Times
Leading proxy shareholder agencies have recommended investors in Victoria vote against accepting the royal carpet maker’s annual report and accounts at its meeting today. After accountants issued a qualified audit opinion and raised fraud risk concerns Glass Lewis and Institutional Shareholder Services have advised shareholders in the 128-year-old company to oppose the resolution. – The Times
