London open: Stocks fall as investors eye Jackson Hole
London stocks fell in early trade on Thursday, with ex-dividends a drag, as investors eyed the start of the Jackson Hole symposium and the release of US jobless claims and GDP data.
At 0835 BST, the FTSE 100 was down 0.6% at 7,108.38.
Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor, said: "A tepid opening to trading has seen investors choosing to react to further weakness in Asian markets, as opposed to the further strength of Wall Street. From a technical perspective, the usual slew of FTSE 100 stocks being marked ex-dividend on a Thursday also weighs on the index.
"Even so, the progress of the major indices is reflective of the general move towards a return to normality, with the imminent Jackson Hole symposium providing an opportunity for the Federal Reserve to assure investors that the punch bowl will not be taken away just yet."
In equity markets, ex-dividend stocks weighed, with Aviva, Diageo, Mondi, St James’s Place, Land Securities, Plus500 and Drax all in the frame.
Building materials supplier CRH gained after it lifted its dividend as interim core earnings rose by a quarter and the company said it expected second half profits to be ahead of a record prior year. Earnings for the six months to June 30 came in at $2bn, up 25% on a better-than-expected 15% increase in sales to $14bn. The dividend rose 4.5% to 23 cents a share.
Hays was little changed even as the recruiter said it was resuming dividend payments as it hailed a "strong" recovery in fee and profit growth in its full-year results.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,108.38 -0.58%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 23,916.18 -0.29%
techMARK (TASX) 4,821.04 -0.25%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Pershing Square Holdings Ltd NPV (PSH) 2,525.00p 0.40%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 8,577.00p 0.28%
Severn Trent (SVT) 2,796.00p 0.22%
CRH (CDI) (CRH) 3,781.00p 0.21%
Tesco (TSCO) 252.00p 0.18%
Flutter Entertainment (CDI) (FLTR) 14,460.00p 0.17%
Entain (ENT) 1,915.00p 0.00%
Pearson (PSON) 776.00p -0.03%
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 2,506.00p -0.04%
Relx plc (REL) 2,163.00p -0.09%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Aviva (AV.) 411.70p -2.19%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,815.00p -1.65%
Diageo (DGE) 3,461.50p -1.65%
Mondi (MNDI) 2,010.00p -1.52%
HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 392.95p -1.47%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,446.50p -1.43%
St James's Place (STJ) 1,590.00p -1.40%
Polymetal International (POLY) 1,504.50p -1.25%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 711.20p -1.22%
Fresnillo (FRES) 826.00p -1.20%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Trainline (TRN) 370.00p 2.78%
Crest Nicholson Holdings (CRST) 430.60p 2.43%
BlackRock World Mining Trust (BRWM) 589.00p 2.26%
Mitie Group (MTO) 74.00p 1.79%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 46.12p 1.25%
Hays (HAS) 158.80p 1.15%
Frasers Group (FRAS) 655.50p 0.85%
Mediclinic International (MDC) 300.00p 0.60%
Ninety One (N91) 245.60p 0.57%
RIT Capital Partners (RCP) 2,675.00p 0.56%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Premier Foods (PFD) 115.00p -4.01%
Apax Global Alpha Limited (APAX) 209.50p -3.23%
WH Smith (SMWH) 1,655.50p -2.42%
Airtel Africa (AAF) 92.20p -1.76%
TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 323.10p -1.73%
Plus500 Ltd (DI) (PLUS) 1,457.00p -1.69%
Cineworld Group (CINE) 66.42p -1.57%
Civitas Social Housing (CSH) 105.40p -1.50%
Fidelity China Special Situations (FCSS) 341.00p -1.45%
Drax Group (DRX) 411.80p -1.34%