London open: Stocks edge lower as miners retreat; Aston Martin tanks

London stocks edged lower in early trade on Wednesday, with miners pacing the decline.

At 0840 BST, the FTSE 100 was down 0.2% at 7,542.50, while the pound was flat against the dollar at 1.2441 and 0.1% firmer versus the euro at 1.1162 as Boris Johnson prepared to enter Downing Street and appoint his cabinet.

Neil Wilson, chief market analyst at Markets.com, said: "Plus ca change: A new prime minister, the same problems. Key questions remain over whom he appoints to cabinet and what tack he’ll take with the EU over the coming days. A lot of the Boris factor is priced in - what's not is an actual no-deal. If Boris does well in selling a new(ish) deal - lipstick on the pig if you like - then the pound can rally hard from here.

"Sterling has been steady and didn’t look too closely at last week’s lows yesterday. Nevertheless there is yet potential for the pound to slip lower still. The arithmetic hasn’t really changed for Boris, but what has is that Tory MPs now realise they have the Brexit Party knocking."

In equity markets, miners were in the red as copper and iron ore prices declined, with Rio Tinto, Anglo American and BHP all lower.

Speciality chemicals company Croda International was the standout loser on the top-flight index after it posted a drop in first-half pre-tax profit as its personal care business in the US and North Asia took a hit from the Sino-US trade spat.

Aston Martin Lagonda was the worst performer on the FTSE 250 after the luxury car maker cut its sales and profit forecasts for this year, highlighting macroeconomic uncertainty and weakness in UK and European markets.

Marston's lost its fizz as the brewer reported a "modest" 0.5% increase in like-for-like sales at its managed and franchised pubs for the 42 weeks to 20 July, noting poor weather in May and June. The company also said it had decided to accelerate plans to cut debt and generate cash by deferring its remaining new-build plans and reallocate £20m - £30m of £70m in new-build capital expenditure "to drive higher returns from our existing estate".

Tullow Oil retreated after saying it was revising down its 2019 full year production forecast to 89-93,000 bopd due to mechanical issues experienced completing the Enyenra-14 production well in Ghana.

On the upside, ITV was the standout gainer as the broadcaster said profits and revenue dropped in the first half of this year, but a 5% decline in advertising revenue was better than it had previously guided, thanks in part to solid viewing figures for Love Island.

Exhibitions, events and information services group Informa was trading higher as it posted a jump in first-half profit and revenue and said it was "performing to plan" across the business.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,542.50 -0.19%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,809.52 0.29%
techMARK (TASX) 3,710.14 0.33%

FTSE 100 - Risers

ITV (ITV) 113.90p 7.20%
Informa (INF) 859.60p 3.94%
Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,780.50p 1.37%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 194.95p 1.06%
NMC Health (NMC) 2,444.00p 0.99%
Aveva Group (AVV) 3,978.00p 0.91%
Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 2,109.00p 0.81%
Smith (DS) (SMDS) 382.60p 0.79%
Standard Life Aberdeen (SLA) 309.50p 0.75%
St James's Place (STJ) 1,093.50p 0.74%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Croda International (CRDA) 4,626.00p -4.14%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 4,666.50p -3.36%
Anglo American (AAL) 2,215.50p -1.99%
BHP Group (BHP) 2,007.50p -1.71%
Fresnillo (FRES) 775.20p -1.45%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 2,272.00p -1.30%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 3,027.00p -1.21%
Evraz (EVR) 664.40p -1.07%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 709.60p -0.70%
Imperial Brands (IMB) 2,107.50p -0.68%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Oxford Instruments (OXIG) 1,394.00p 3.41%
Daejan Holdings (DJAN) 5,734.50p 2.40%
Morgan Advanced Materials (MGAM) 261.20p 2.27%
Card Factory (CARD) 174.70p 2.22%
Drax Group (DRX) 292.20p 1.88%
Rank Group (RNK) 158.40p 1.67%
Pershing Square Holdings Ltd NPV (PSH) 1,464.00p 1.67%
QinetiQ Group (QQ.) 281.20p 1.44%
B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 362.20p 1.43%
Dixons Carphone (DC.) 122.53p 1.34%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 811.40p -21.60%
Royal Mail (RMG) 217.92p -3.53%
Amigo Holdings (AMGO) 153.00p -3.29%
Marston's (MARS) 119.20p -2.13%
CLS Holdings (CLI) 223.95p -1.13%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 205.90p -1.10%
Pantheon International (PIN) 2,305.25p -1.06%
Britvic (BVIC) 876.50p -0.90%
Mitchells & Butlers (MAB) 302.50p -0.82%
Acacia Mining (ACA) 226.32p -0.74%