London open: Stocks fall as investors eye GDP data

London stocks fell in early trade on Monday, taking their cue from a downbeat session in Asia as investors eyed the latest UK GDP reading.

At 0830 GMT, the FTSE 100 was down 0.5% at 7,322.32, while the pound was up 0.2% against the dollar and the euro at 1.2800 and 1.1611, respectively.

Neil Wilson, chief market analyst at Markets.com, said: "We are starting the week in risk-off mode: Fiery protests in Hong Kong and the US-China trade war are conspiring to dampen the mood in markets on Monday. As usual expect the risk switch to be flicked to ‘on’ pretty quickly with the standard trade war pump in due course. And in terms of Hong Kong, we wonder how long term this de-risking kneejerk will last."

Investors were also keeping an eye on any developments on the China-US trade front after US President Donald Trump said over the weekend that talks between the two were moving more slowly than he had hoped and that China was keener to do a deal than the US.

"It comes after last week’s pushback over claims the US is prepared to roll back existing tariffs as part of any deal. Despite this, it’s clear the economic reality is not lost on the White House," said Wilson.

On home shores, all eyes will be on the release of third-quarter gross domestic product figures at 0930 GMT.

CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson said: "Today we’ll get to find out if the UK economy slipped into recession in Q3, after a contraction in Q2. Recent PMIs would appear to paint a rather feeble rebound from a disappointing Q2, however sometimes these can paint a much more pessimistic view of the economy than is immediately apparent.

"Expectations are for the economy to rebound by 0.3% in Q3, more than offsetting the contraction in Q2, part of which was caused by a slowdown in the aftermath of economic activity being pulled forward into Q1, just before the first Brexit extension of 29th March."

In equity markets, miners were on the back foot as copper and iron ore prices retreated, with Anglo American, Glencore and Antofagasta all lower.

BHP was in the red even as it outlined a confident outlook for its petroleum business to deliver earnings margins of more than 60% and annual increased production by up to 3% through the 2020s.

Events and publishing company Informa was down despite posting a 2.8% rise in group underlying revenue growth for the 10 months to the end of October.

On the upside, Sirius Minerals rallied after it outlined a two-stage development plan for its flagship project in Yorkshire.

Shares of Greggs surged after the bakery chain lifted its profit expectations for 2019 as it reported a 12.4% increase in total sales for the six weeks to 9 November.

AstraZeneca edged up after it said a drug used to treat patients with anaemia from chronic kidney disease had met its primary goal with no raised cardiovascular risk.

Kainos Group gained after reporting a rise in first-half profit and revenue thanks to strong momentum in its digital services business and announcing two new acquisitions.

Finablr ticked higher as it said group adjusted income in the nine months to the end of September grew 9% year-on-year.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,322.32 -0.50%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,271.97 -0.42%
techMARK (TASX) 3,983.08 -0.01%

FTSE 100 - Risers

AstraZeneca (AZN) 7,343.50p 0.91%
Imperial Brands (IMB) 1,790.00p 0.90%
Aveva Group (AVV) 4,280.00p 0.75%
Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,656.00p 0.33%
SSE (SSE) 1,252.50p 0.20%
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 736.60p 0.19%
Meggitt (MGGT) 640.80p 0.19%
Auto Trader Group (AUTO) 535.00p 0.15%
Diageo (DGE) 3,093.50p 0.11%
Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 2,368.60p 0.11%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Standard Chartered (STAN) 712.20p -1.90%
Anglo American (AAL) 2,025.50p -1.89%
St James's Place (STJ) 1,045.50p -1.88%
Prudential (PRU) 1,342.50p -1.86%
Evraz (EVR) 364.00p -1.83%
Glencore (GLEN) 250.40p -1.57%
NMC Health (NMC) 2,282.00p -1.55%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 765.20p -1.49%
HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 586.75p -1.49%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 919.60p -1.42%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Sirius Minerals (SXX) 3.90p 22.03%
Greggs (GRG) 1,904.32p 7.53%
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 495.00p 6.00%
Kainos Group (KNOS) 525.60p 2.66%
Airtel Africa (AAF) 67.31p 1.90%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 114.97p 1.70%
TI Fluid Systems (TIFS) 224.20p 1.68%
AJ Bell (AJB) 398.50p 1.53%
Finablr (FIN) 174.20p 1.28%
Future (FUTR) 1,410.00p 1.15%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Virgin Money UK (VMUK) 138.70p -4.54%
Vivo Energy (VVO) 121.20p -3.81%
Wetherspoon (J.D.) (JDW) 1,448.00p -2.62%
CLS Holdings (CLI) 240.50p -2.24%
Fisher (James) & Sons (FSJ) 1,851.00p -2.06%
Fidelity China Special Situations (FCSS) 218.74p -1.91%
Bank of Georgia Group (BGEO) 1,428.00p -1.86%
Beazley (BEZ) 567.50p -1.65%
Elementis (ELM) 172.38p -1.49%
Royal Mail (RMG) 216.50p -1.46%