London open: Stocks and sterling steady as Christmas slowdown kicks in

London stocks were little changed at the open on Wednesday as activity started to wind down ahead of Christmas, although investors will be keeping an eye on developments across the pond where the US tax bill is another step closer to being passed.

At 0830 GMT, the FTSE 100 was flat at 7,541.83, while the pound was steady against the euro and the dollar at 1.1307 and 1.3384, respectively.

The Republican-led US Senate has approved a tax bill that includes $1.5trn of tax cuts - the biggest tax overhaul in three decades - that will now go back to the House of Representatives for a final vote later in the day.

CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson said: "It now looks increasingly likely that just over a year since being elected that President Trump is likely to have something to show for his first year as President.

"The big question now is whether having seen stocks rise in anticipation of legislation being passed, that the current momentum is maintained or we see a case of 'buy the rumour, sell the news' as we head towards the Christmas break."

On the macroeconomic calendar, the CBI distributive trades survey is at 1100 GMT.

In corporate news, Tesco was a touch higher after its £3.7bn takeover of Booker was given final clearance from the Competition and Markets Authority. Booker was also trading a little higher.

William Hill gained after announcing the appointment of Roger Devlin as its chairman-designate with effect from 1 February.

London property developer Shaftesbury ticked up a touch after snapping up six buildings on Neal Street near Covent Garden for £24.6m, while Carillion rallied as it said its new chief executive will start 11 weeks earlier than planned.

EasyJet flew higher after Panmure Gordon upgraded the stock to 'hold', while paper and packaging group Mondi was boosted by an upgrade to 'buy' at Goldman Sachs and Tullow Oil gushed higher after an upgrade to 'hold' at Jefferies.

On the downside, United Arab Emirates-focussed healthcare provider NMC Health fell after it said operations during the second half have continued to perform in line with expectations and that it remains comfortable with the full-year guidance provided for 2017.

Drax suffered heavy losses after it cut its full-year core earnings guidance by £10m following an unplanned outage at a rail unloading facility.

Micro Focus International slipped after saying that John Schultz had left its board and will be replaced by an independent non-executive director.

Bodycote was in the red after saying it has entered into a long-term agreement to provide Doncasters Group with its hot isostatic pressing and heat treatment requirements in the UK.

Cairn Energy was hit by a downgrade to 'hold' at Jefferies.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,541.83 -0.03%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,325.10 -0.08%
techMARK (TASX) 3,500.55 -0.14%

FTSE 100 - Risers

easyJet (EZJ) 1,440.67p 1.74%
Next (NXT) 4,309.00p 1.68%
Direct Line Insurance Group (DLG) 373.90p 1.27%
Mondi (MNDI) 1,847.00p 1.09%
Pearson (PSON) 727.50p 1.04%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,681.00p 1.00%
Old Mutual (OML) 220.40p 0.73%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,425.00p 0.71%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 311.10p 0.68%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,474.50p 0.65%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Mediclinic International (MDC) 574.00p -0.86%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 640.50p -0.85%
CRH (CRH) 2,579.00p -0.81%
BT Group (BT.A) 271.64p -0.77%
NMC Health (NMC) 2,832.00p -0.70%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 4,960.00p -0.70%
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 3,058.00p -0.68%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 1,944.00p -0.61%
Micro Focus International (MCRO) 2,470.00p -0.60%
SSE (SSE) 1,304.00p -0.53%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Tullow Oil (TLW) 188.00p 3.01%
Rank Group (RNK) 248.20p 2.43%
TI Fluid Systems (TIFS) 244.90p 2.13%
Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group (JLT) 1,378.00p 1.85%
Telecom Plus (TEP) 1,222.00p 1.83%
Caledonia Investments (CLDN) 2,734.74p 1.81%
Daejan Holdings (DJAN) 6,105.00p 1.75%
Sanne Group (SNN) 763.50p 1.53%
TBC Bank Group (TBCG) 1,670.00p 1.52%
Ted Baker (TED) 2,638.00p 1.50%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Drax Group (DRX) 254.70p -7.85%
UDG Healthcare Public Limited Company (UDG) 826.00p -2.02%
Acacia Mining (ACA) 175.20p -1.30%
Dechra Pharmaceuticals (DPH) 2,044.00p -1.16%
Mitie Group (MTO) 189.00p -1.10%
Sophos Group (SOPH) 563.00p -1.05%
Alfa Financial Software Holdings (ALFA) 542.50p -1.00%
TalkTalk Telecom Group (TALK) 140.20p -0.99%
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 334.00p -0.95%
Countryside Properties (CSP) 345.80p -0.92%