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London open: Stocks fall; Ashtead planning to switch primary listing to US
London stocks fell in early trade on Tuesday following a downbeat session on Wall Street and as sentiment took a hit after another London-listed firm announced plans to move its primary listing to the US.
At 0825 GMT, the FTSE 100 was down 0.4% at 8,321.49.
Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “The FTSE 100 opened lower this morning, handing back some of yesterday’s 0.6% gain. Yesterday’s rally was powered by mining stocks and fuelled by China’s promise of economic stimulus, including looser monetary policy and support for property prices. But as we’ve seen with mini-China rallies in the past, it seems the buzz is fading as investors take a step back to reassess the bigger picture.
“Equipment rental giant Ashtead is packing its bags and heading stateside, dealing another blow to UK markets. The move had been whispered about for a while, despite Ashtead previously insisting there were no such plans. It’s a logical leap – most of its leadership is already US-based, and the States are its biggest market. There will still be a secondary listing in the UK, albeit with less stringent requirements than a full listing.
“As for today’s results, they were a let-down, missing expectations across the board and topped off with a guidance downgrade. Sluggish commercial real estate is still a drag, but investors can find a silver lining in easier comparable quarters on the horizon and the longer-term tailwind of mega projects in the US.”
Ashtead tumbled nearly 9% on the listing news and as it delivered a profit warning due to weaker local construction market dynamics in the US.
It said rental revenues are now expected to grow by just 3-5% over the full year, compared with earlier guidance of a 5-8% improvement, owing solely to a downgrade in US rental growth to 2-4% from 4-7% previously.
Prudential was also in the red following a report it is considering options for its asset manager Eastspring Investments that include selling a minority stake to help broaden the business.
Moonpig fell sharply after saying it swung to a pre-tax loss in the first half as it pointed to “challenging” trading in its Experiences segment.
On the upside, British Land rallied after an upgrade to ‘buy’ at Goldman Sachs, while Unite was lifted by an upgrade to ‘overweight’ by JPMorgan.
Hikma Pharmaceuticals nudged higher after an upgrade to ‘outperform’ at RBC Capital Markets.
British Gas owner Centrica was trading up as it said it expects full-year profits to match analysts’ estimates and beefed up its share buyback programme by £300m.
FirstGroup gained as it announced its entry into the London bus market after agreeing to buy the French state-owned RATP Dev Transit London, an operator with a 12% market share, for £90m.
Top 10 FTSE 100 Risers
| Sponsored by Plus500 |
|
| # | Name | Change Pct | Change | Cur Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  |
Tesco Plc | +1.10% | +4.00 | 368.80 |
| 2 |  |
Spirax Group Plc | +0.81% | +60.00 | 7,495.00 |
| 3 |  |
Diploma Plc | +0.66% | +30.00 | 4,602.00 |
| 4 |  |
Gsk Plc | +0.65% | +9.00 | 1,392.00 |
| 5 |  |
International Consolidated Airlines Group S.a. | +0.53% | +1.50 | 282.60 |
| 6 |  |
Melrose Industries Plc | +0.53% | +3.00 | 567.60 |
| 7 |  |
Next Plc | +0.49% | +48.00 | 9,844.00 |
| 8 |  |
Pearson Plc | +0.40% | +5.00 | 1,253.00 |
| 9 |  |
Banco Santander S.a. | +0.39% | +1.50 | 385.50 |
| 10 |  |
Sainsbury (j) Plc | +0.37% | +1.00 | 270.60 |
Top 10 FTSE 100 Fallers
| Sponsored by Plus500 |
|
| # | Name | Change Pct | Change | Cur Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  |
Ashtead Group Plc | -10.46% | -656.00 | 5,616.00 |
| 2 |  |
South32 Limited | -3.72% | -6.90 | 178.70 |
| 3 |  |
Centrica Plc | -2.44% | -3.20 | 128.20 |
| 4 |  |
Antofagasta Plc | -2.34% | -42.50 | 1,773.00 |
| 5 |  |
Glencore Plc | -2.27% | -8.95 | 385.90 |
| 6 |  |
Prudential Plc | -2.11% | -14.40 | 667.00 |
| 7 |  |
Ferguson Enterprises Inc. | -1.99% | -340.00 | 16,730.00 |
| 8 |  |
Anglo American Plc | -1.68% | -42.50 | 2,488.50 |
| 9 |  |
Bhp Group Limited | -1.65% | -35.00 | 2,084.00 |
| 10 |  |
Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. | -1.41% | -70.00 | 4,900.00 |
US close: S&P 500 retreats from last week’s record close
Stocks were lower at the closing bell on Monday as the S&P 500 came off its third consecutive winning week.
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.54% at 44,401.93, while the S&P 500 lost 0.61% to 6,052.85 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 0.62% weaker at 19,736.69.
The Dow closed 240.59 points lower on Monday, extending losses recorded in the previous session on the back of a November jobs report that pointed to stronger-than-expected growth last month.
While last month’s non-farm payrolls report revealed payrolls had risen by 227,000, a significant increase from October’s upwardly revised print of 36,000, it failed to hurt expectations of a 25-basis point interest rate cut from the Federal Reserve when it next convenes on 17 and 18 December.
Later in the week, investors will pay strict attention to November’s consumer price index on Wednesday, as well as Thursday’s producer price index, as traders hope to gain further insight into the Federal Reserve’s thinking going into its two-day policy meeting next week.
On Monday’s macro slate, wholesale inventories rose 0.2% month-on-month to $905.0bn in October, according to the Census Bureau, in line with preliminary estimates. Non-durables stocks increased by 0.3%, while durable inventories ticked up 0.1%.
In the corporate space, Nvidia shares were lower after China announced that it had launched an investigation in to the AI darling for potential violations of the country’s anti-monopoly laws.
No major earnings were released on Monday.
Tuesday newspaper round-up: Rupert Murdoch, Tesla, HSBC
Rupert Murdoch’s three adult children will retain control over their father’s media empire upon his death, a Nevada court has ruled after Murdoch launched a campaign to wrest away their power and give it all to his oldest son. The New York Times reported on Murdoch’s loss, citing a sealed court decision that was filed on Saturday. The family battle took place outside of the public’s eye, despite attempts from the media to gain access to the trial. – Guardian
Tesla lobbied the UK government to strengthen rules on carbon emissions from cars and lorries, according to documents that also show the electric carmaker continued to push for increased taxes on fossil fuel cars. The US carmaker, which is run by Elon Musk, pushed for the British government to strengthen its zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) mandate for cars and introduce equivalent rules for heavy goods vehicles (HGVs), in a letter to Lilian Greenwood, the Labour roads minister. – Guardian
HSBC has been accused of funding deforestation in one of South America’s largest forests, increasing scrutiny of the bank’s climate policy under Georges Elhedery, its new chief. The lender, which is being restructured under Mr Elhedery, has been blamed for indirectly fuelling the destruction of Paraguay’s Gran Chaco. – Telegraph
The TV streaming and film production company behind the Paddington films is to list in London within days after shareholders overwhelmingly approved the break-up of its parent business Vivendi of France. The Paris-based Canal+, which boasts 27 million pay TV customers worldwide as well as rights to the Ealing comedies and Carry On films, will be spun off from Vivendi and list next Monday in a move seen as a coup for London. – The Times
Insider dealing could be taking place before as many as one in three takeover bids in the UK, regulators have indicated, but the trend is downwards. The Financial Conduct Authority identified suspicious trading activity before 30.3 per cent of bids in 2023, which was down from 35.3 per cent in 2022. Its new methodology suggests, however, that the illegal activity has for years been more commonplace than the regulator had thought because of flaws in the way it previously identified red flags. – The Times
