London open: Stocks edge lower ahead of BoE policy announcement

London stocks edged lower in early trade on Thursday as investors eyed the latest policy announcement from the Bank of England.

At 0830 BST, the FTSE 100 was down 0.3% at 7,104.92.

CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson said: "In the UK, the virus data appears to be heading in the right direction with infections and hospitalisations both falling back, despite assertions a few weeks ago that the government was being unethical and reckless in announcing the dropping of all remaining restrictions.

"Despite this the UK economy is still in the grip of the so-called pingdemic which in itself is a brake on economy activity, particularly on services, which is something that the Bank of England may be concerned about, however with vaccination rates so high, and the removal of isolation requirements on August 16th, it’s something the central bank won’t have to worry about for much longer.

"Today’s construction PMI is expected to remain resilient with an expectation of a modest slowdown to 64.4, from 66.3.

"With that resilience in mind, today’s Bank of England meeting could offer clues as to policymakers thinking about current levels of bond buying, particularly in terms of unanimity, in light of recent shifts in thinking from the likes of Dave Ramsden and Michael Saunders."

In equity markets, miners were among the worst performers, with Anglo American, Rio and BHP all weaker.

Lloyds was the biggest loser on the FTSE 100 after a downgrade to ‘sell’ at Goldman Sachs, which also downgraded NatWest to 'buy' from ‘conviction buy’.

Frasers Group lost ground after it confirmed that plans were in place for Mike Ashley to step down as chief executive, with Michael Murray - his future son-in-law - set to take over the role in May next year. It also reported a drop in full-year profit and revenue due to the impact of Covid-related closures.

Centamin fell after the gold miner posted a 39% decline in first-half pre-tax profit.

On the upside, engine maker Rolls-Royce rallied after saying it swung to an interim profit as it continued to cut costs and looked to turn cash-flow positive during the second half of the year.

WPP was also a high riser after the advertising group upgraded its outlook and boosted shareholder returns as it swung back to profit in the first half of 2021.

British Airways and Iberia owner IAG and budget airline easyJet both flew higher on news that from next week, fully-vaccinated travellers returning to England, Scotland and Northern Ireland from France will no longer have to quarantine.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,104.92 -0.27%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 23,295.97 -0.22%
techMARK (TASX) 4,615.45 0.06%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 108.04p 3.35%
WPP (WPP) 963.60p 2.40%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 172.76p 1.28%
Glencore (GLEN) 332.20p 0.88%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 8,337.00p 0.81%
National Grid (NG.) 934.60p 0.79%
Intertek Group (ITRK) 5,286.00p 0.69%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 290.20p 0.66%
Mondi (MNDI) 2,015.00p 0.65%
SEGRO (SGRO) 1,253.00p 0.44%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 46.00p -2.76%
Pershing Square Holdings Ltd NPV (PSH) 2,500.00p -2.15%
Evraz (EVR) 597.20p -2.03%
Anglo American (AAL) 3,383.50p -1.76%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 6,183.00p -1.73%
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 927.80p -1.53%
B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 552.20p -1.43%
BHP Group (BHP) 2,339.00p -1.31%
BP (BP.) 299.40p -1.19%
NATWEST GROUP PLC ORD 100P (NWG) 208.00p -1.14%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Petropavlovsk (POG) 22.38p 4.29%
Serco Group (SRP) 144.60p 2.84%
Savills (SVS) 1,183.00p 1.98%
Spirent Communications (SPT) 259.40p 1.73%
Kainos Group (KNOS) 1,739.00p 1.28%
Diversified Energy Company (DEC) 106.80p 1.14%
easyJet (EZJ) 836.20p 1.09%
Schroder Asia Pacific Fund (SDP) 604.00p 1.00%
Spectris (SXS) 3,758.00p 0.99%
Assura (AGR) 79.75p 0.95%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Frasers Group (FRAS) 595.00p -3.25%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 103.00p -2.88%
Cairn Energy (CNE) 122.00p -2.87%
Oxford Instruments (OXIG) 2,495.00p -2.54%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 44.51p -2.37%
AO World (AO.) 212.20p -2.03%
Pets at Home Group (PETS) 456.40p -1.85%
Law Debenture Corp. (LWDB) 775.00p -1.65%
Carnival (CCL) 1,394.60p -1.61%
Just Group (JUST) 97.30p -1.52%