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London open: Stocks nudge up but BAT tumbles after update
London stocks nudged higher in early trade on Wednesday as investors eyed the latest ADP jobs report in the US, but British American Tobacco tumbled after a disappointing update.
At 0825 GMT, the FTSE 100 was up 0.1% at 7,497.19.
The ADP report for November is due at 1315 GMT. Before that, the S&P Global/CIPS UK construction PMI for November is at 0930 GMT.
CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson said: “Today we get a look at the latest ADP payrolls report for November as an appetiser for Friday’s non-farm payrolls report. We are starting see increasing evidence that the US jobs market is starting to slow, with vacancies falling to their lowest level since March 2021 and with the last two ADP reports adding a combined 202k new jobs as private sector hiring slows.
“October saw 113k jobs added an improvement on September and November is expected to see an improvement on that to 130k, given that a lot of additional hiring takes place in the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving and the Christmas period so we’re unlikely to see any evidence of cracking in the US labour market this side of 2024.”
In equity markets, miners were among the top performers on the FTSE 100 as copper prices rose, with Anglo American, Rio Tinto, Glencore and Antofagasta all up.
Ocado jumped to the top of the index after an upgrade to ‘neutral’ from ‘underweight’ at JPMorgan.
Weir Group gained after saying it is now targeting £60m in absolute savings by 2026, as part of its goal to reach an operating margin of 20% by the same year. It also confirmed that market conditions and its 2023 guidance remained unchanged, with the company on track to deliver an operating margin of 17%.
Travel giant Tui rallied as it said it expects a 25% rise in operating profit this year after 2023 earnings surged by more than double on the back of strong demand. It also announced a potential move of its stock market listing from London to Frankfurt.
On the downside, tobacco and nicotine giant British American Tobacco was under the cosh as it scaled back expectations for organic growth this year. The company said macroeconomic pressures in the US were impacting its combustibles performance and organic revenues are now expected to grow at the low end of the 3-5% guidance range at constant exchange rates.
BAT said it will take a non-cash adjusting impairment charge of around £25bn relating to some of its US combustibles brands.
Top 10 FTSE 100 Risers
| Sponsored by Plus500 |
|
| # | Name | Change Pct | Change | Cur Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  |
Ferguson Plc | +3.82% | +510.00 | 13,865.00 |
| 2 |  |
Bt Group Plc | +3.29% | +4.15 | 130.25 |
| 3 |  |
British Land Company Plc | +2.47% | +8.90 | 369.90 |
| 4 |  |
Tui Ag | +2.30% | +11.50 | 512.00 |
| 5 |  |
Carnival Plc | +2.19% | +25.00 | 1,166.00 |
| 6 |  |
Whitbread Plc | +1.89% | +60.00 | 3,240.00 |
| 7 |  |
Croda International Plc | +1.68% | +75.00 | 4,544.00 |
| 8 |  |
Melrose Industries Plc | +1.67% | +8.80 | 536.20 |
| 9 |  |
Hikma Pharmaceuticals Plc | +1.67% | +29.50 | 1,799.00 |
| 10 |  |
Sainsbury (j) Plc | +1.54% | +4.40 | 289.20 |
Top 10 FTSE 100 Fallers
| Sponsored by Plus500 |
|
| # | Name | Change Pct | Change | Cur Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  |
Ashtead Group Plc | -3.76% | -185.00 | 4,735.00 |
| 2 |  |
Fresnillo Plc | -3.13% | -18.40 | 569.00 |
| 3 |  |
Anglo American Plc | -3.12% | -69.50 | 2,155.00 |
| 4 |  |
Antofagasta Plc | -2.64% | -38.50 | 1,417.50 |
| 5 |  |
Barclays Plc | -2.46% | -3.52 | 139.46 |
| 6 |  |
Smurfit Kappa Group Plc | -1.65% | -50.00 | 2,980.00 |
| 7 |  |
International Consolidated Airlines Group S.a. | -1.55% | -2.45 | 155.80 |
| 8 |  |
British American Tobacco Plc | -1.43% | -36.00 | 2,487.50 |
| 9 |  |
Centrica Plc | -1.42% | -2.15 | 149.30 |
| 10 |  |
Easyjet Plc | -1.28% | -6.10 | 468.70 |
Wednesday newspaper round-up: Local authorities, German car makers, Masdar
FBI agents tasked with investigating sanctions-busting have been dispatched to Cyprus as the global crackdown against Russian oligarchs, and the web of enablers who have helped hide their wealth, intensifies. The 24-strong team was expected to start “assisting Cypriot police” with immediate effect after arriving on the eastern Mediterranean island late Sunday. – Guardian
The financial crisis engulfing English local authorities will trigger an unprecedented increase in town hall bankruptcies in the coming months, local government leaders have warned, as they prepare to increase council tax bills and impose a fresh round of cuts to services. The grim forecast, endorsed by council leaders of all political colours, comes days after Labour-run Nottingham city council issued a Section 114 notice to become the fourth authority in the past 12 months – and the eighth in six years – to declare effective insolvency. – Guardian
German carmakers have been accused of supplying Vladimir Putin’s Russia through the back door as exports to Central Asia boom. Exports of cars and vehicle parts to Kyrgyzstan are reported to have surged by 5,500pc in the first nine months of the year compared to the same period in 2019, according to the Institute of International Finance (IIF). – Telegraph
The United Arab Emirates has snapped up a 49pc stake in one of the UK’s largest wind farms despite soaring costs throwing the industry’s future into doubt. Masdar, a company controlled by the Gulf state and chaired by the president of the Cop28 climate talks, has bought a minority stake in the East Anglia Three offshore wind farm from Spanish developer Iberdrola. – Telegraph
British car manufacturers are to be given a three-year reprieve from Brexit tariffs on electric vehicle exports to the EU, hours after new figures showed sales of battery-powered vehicles fell by almost a fifth last month. The European Commission signalled yesterday that it would delay imposing a 10 per cent tax on the exports of vehicles with batteries made outside the UK, even if the rest of the vehicle has been manufactured domestically. – The Times
