London open: Stocks ping higher as Glencore and builders lead gains

Share prices in London ping-ponged back higher on Thursday morning as the stock market continued its back and forth pattern as housebuilders and miners drove the gains, while the pound failed to react to Theresa May releasing details on her Brexit plans and traders looked ahead to the US markers reopening after their holiday.

The FTSE 100 index had gained 21.42 points or 0.28% to 7,594.51 after almost an hour of trading, with the pound up 0.1% against the dollar at 1.3243 and down 0.2% on the euro at 1.1326. Brent crude was down 0.5% at $77.87 per barrel.

Ahead of talks between the Prime Minister and German counterpart Angel Merkel on Thursday, 10 Downing Street released some details about a proposed new customs plan that offers "the best of both worlds".

The new "facilitated customs arrangement" is designed around allowing the UK the freedom to set its own tariffs on goods arriving into the country, the BBC reported. Technological solutions would be put in place to determine beforehand where good will end up and whether UK or EU tariffs should be paid.

"Traders returning to their desks after a relatively quiet 4th of July session will have their work cut out for them today with key events and important news to digest," said Konstantinos Anthis, head of research at ADSS. "The major event of the day will be the release of the FOMC minutes from Fed's last meeting and its impact on the dollar. At the same time, the euro and the pound will be in play. Comments from the ECB on the bank's tightening path and from Brexit minister Davies on the progress of negotiations will take their toll on the price action today."

The build up to “T-day” tomorrow with the US and China set to impose import tariffs on each other will also be a major focus, said analyst Michael van Dulken at Accendo Markets.

When America wakes up post Independence Day, it will also be an important day for US data, with a snapshot of the US labour market with the latest ADP employment report at 1315 BST, as well as the ISM services report at 1500 BST. The latest Federal Reserve policy minutes are due at 1900 BST and van Dulken said any shifts in market expectations about the path of US rate rises will have an impact on the dollar and a knock-on for most asset classes.

Later on Thursday morning, Bank of England governor Mark Carney is due to speak in Newcastle, presenting a possible opportunity for questions about interest rates.

In company news, Glencore was top of the Footsie leaderboard as it kicked off a share buyback of up to $1bn between now and the end of the year. The first part of the programme, worth up to £350m, will start now and end no later than close of dealings on 7 August.

Anglo American was higher as its Anglo American Platinum subsidiary sold a 33% interest in the Bafokeng Rasimone joint venture for a roughly $135m.

Superdry was bouncing super high after a break-neck fall since the start of the year. The faux-Japanese clothing retailer announced a special dividend and reported a rise of more than 11% in annual profit.

A solid trading update from Persimmon for the first half of its financial year helped many other in the sector, even though business for the housebuilder was slowing. The group reported revenue up 5% as completed sales increased 3.6% and the average selling price rose 1.2%.

Fellow builder Bovis was up slightly as it foreshadowed a "significant step up" in profitability for the half year, with completions up 4% and the sales rate improving.

Electrocomponents was fizzing higher as it delivered first quarter sales growth of 10%, ahead of many analysts' expectations despite a more challenging comparative period last year.

EasyJet was not quite taking off after posting a 2.3% improvement in passenger numbers year-on-year for June, while its load factor was up 0.5 percentage points over the same time last year. A month of heavy disruption saw 1,263 flights cancelled, with 900 due to extensive industrial action in France and Italy, with another 150 arising from air traffic control restrictions and adverse weather.

Ryanair was flying slightly lower amid its own potential strike turbulence as cabin crews threaten to walk out along with pilots. Analyst Neil Wilson at Markets.com said: "Management needs to take this a lot more seriously than calling their demands 'pointless'. Failure to engage properly with staff led to the fiasco of cancellations last year and Ryanair cannot afford a summer of strike chaos."

Shares in Associated British Foods were sliding after it said profits were improving at its Primark clothing retail arm but its sugar business was being hit by lower prices.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,597.47 0.32%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,687.56 0.17%
techMARK (TASX) 3,516.39 0.13%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Glencore (GLEN) 331.10p 3.65%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 211.80p 2.97%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 2,233.00p 2.20%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 502.80p 2.01%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,706.00p 1.89%
Royal Mail (RMG) 506.00p 1.61%
Persimmon (PSN) 2,521.00p 1.57%
Smith (DS) (SMDS) 510.80p 1.51%
Standard Life Aberdeen (SLA) 323.78p 1.44%
Croda International (CRDA) 4,799.00p 1.33%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Associated British Foods (ABF) 2,606.00p -4.09%
Next (NXT) 5,834.00p -1.88%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 6,323.00p -0.68%
Diageo (DGE) 2,709.00p -0.50%
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,539.00p -0.45%
Imperial Brands (IMB) 2,887.00p -0.45%
National Grid (NG.) 851.60p -0.43%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 3,914.50p -0.43%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 326.60p -0.43%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 5,768.00p -0.41%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Superdry (SDRY) 1,304.30p 11.57%
Electrocomponents (ECM) 757.00p 3.98%
AA (AA.) 125.34p 3.16%
FirstGroup (FGP) 89.20p 3.12%
Premier Oil (PMO) 121.99p 3.03%
TalkTalk Telecom Group (TALK) 113.10p 2.82%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 235.74p 2.54%
Provident Financial (PFG) 609.40p 1.97%
Close Brothers Group (CBG) 1,513.00p 1.95%
Thomas Cook Group (TCG) 106.90p 1.91%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Sophos Group (SOPH) 481.60p -21.75%
Pennon Group (PNN) 778.20p -4.04%
Dairy Crest Group (DCG) 478.80p -3.31%
Auto Trader Group (AUTO) 421.80p -1.68%
Pershing Square Holdings Ltd NPV (PSH) 1,108.00p -1.60%
Fidelity European Values (FEV) 221.50p -1.56%
Fidelity China Special Situations (FCSS) 234.82p -1.54%
Homeserve (HSV) 899.50p -1.53%
Charter Court Financial Services Group (CCFS) 334.83p -1.52%
Workspace Group (WKP) 1,059.36p -1.45%