London open: Stocks inch up as investors sift through corporate news; inflation data eyed

London stocks nudged higher in early trade on Tuesday as investors sifted through a raft of corporate news ahead of the release of the latest UK inflation figures.

At 0830 GMT, the FTSE 100 was up 0.1% to 7,778.23, while the pound was flat against the dollar at 1.3790 after climbing to its highest level against the greenback since Brexit on Monday, and 0.1% firmer versus the euro at 1.1255.

The main focus on the economic front will be the retail price index, producer price index and consumer price index at 0930 GMT.

Spreadex analyst Connor Campbell said: "It’ll be interesting to see how sterling reacts to Tuesday’s latest inflation reading. Analysts are forecasting the figure will slip from 3.1% in November to 3.0% in December, in what could be the first stage of it unwinding the rapid rise seen in the second half of 2017. Now, 3.0% is still very high, especially with wage growth constantly trailing behind; yet a reversal will only further delay a Bank of England rate hike, something that could pull cable away from its recent post-Brexit referendum peak."

In corporate news, high street baker Greggs advanced after saying full year total sales were up by a tasty 7.4% and company-managed shop like-for-like sales grew by 3.7%.

Halma nudged up after saying it expects the recently enacted US tax cuts and to positively impact its future US after tax adjusted earnings and provide a £15m non-cash credit the year to March 2018.

JD Sports surged after saying it expects pre-tax profit for the year to 3 February 2018 to be ahead of market expectations following a strong second half.

Savills was in the black after saying it had a stronger-than-expected finish to 2017 and now sees underlying results for the year to the end of December ahead of its previous expectations.

Homeware retailer Dunelm gained after saying comparable sales in the second quarter rose 3.4% thanks to a solid performance from the online segment.

Coach operator National Express edged up after saying it expects changes to the US tax system that came into effect at the beginning of this month to reduce its effective tax rate to the low 20s from the high 20s.

Emerging markets focused asset manager Ashmore rallied after it posted a jump in assets under management for the three months to the end of December amid strong net inflows.

Tate & Lyle rose as it promoted current chief financial officer Nick Hampton to the role of chief executive with effect from 1 April 2018.

On the downside, troubled doorstep lender Provident Financial retreated as it reported a loss from its home credit business at the larger end of expectations and said its Vanquis Bank took 20% fewer new customer bookings in the fourth quarter compared to last year.

Anglo-Australian miner Rio Tinto slipped despite saying it managed to hit its iron ore export targets after a solid showing in the final quarter where it shipped a record 90m tonnes, up from 85.8m tonnes in the previous three months.

Oil giant BP gushed lower after saying it expects to take a post-tax non-operating charge of around $1.7bn in the fourth quarter as part of the class action settlement of the disastrous Deepwater Horizon oil well spill in the US in 2010.

FTSE 250 hospital group Spire Healthcare lost ground as it confirmed its previous guidance for 2017.

RPC and Inchcape were hit by downgrades to 'hold' at Berenberg, but Primark owner Associated British Foods and Hunting were sharply higher after upgrades at Barclays and Morgan Stanley, respectively.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,778.23 0.12%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,890.48 0.28%
techMARK (TASX) 3,549.16 0.24%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Associated British Foods (ABF) 2,882.00p 1.91%
NMC Health (NMC) 3,064.00p 1.06%
easyJet (EZJ) 1,525.00p 0.86%
3i Group (III) 948.60p 0.85%
Admiral Group (ADM) 1,884.00p 0.83%
Hammerson (HMSO) 518.00p 0.78%
Persimmon (PSN) 2,638.00p 0.73%
Micro Focus International (MCRO) 2,226.00p 0.68%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 5,049.00p 0.68%
GKN (GKN) 440.10p 0.62%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 294.70p -1.80%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,025.50p -1.25%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,640.60p -1.17%
BP (BP.) 527.20p -1.03%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,770.40p -0.74%
Glencore (GLEN) 406.95p -0.63%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 4,147.00p -0.61%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 70.19p -0.58%
Pearson (PSON) 725.80p -0.49%
Paddy Power Betfair (PPB) 8,495.00p -0.41%

FTSE 250 - Risers

JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 398.30p 8.97%
Hunting (HTG) 641.50p 5.08%
Ashmore Group (ASHM) 443.00p 3.55%
Greggs (GRG) 1,333.00p 2.15%
SIG (SHI) 170.50p 2.10%
Coats Group (COA) 86.70p 2.00%
Dunelm Group (DNLM) 715.00p 2.00%
Bodycote (BOY) 1,003.00p 1.98%
Assura (AGR) 64.10p 1.91%
Sequoia Economic Infrastructure Income Fund Limited (SEQI) 113.00p 1.80%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Provident Financial (PFG) 874.20p -4.98%
Spire Healthcare Group (SPI) 241.40p -2.11%
Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 946.80p -1.97%
RPC Group (RPC) 818.80p -1.94%
Synthomer (SYNT) 482.85p -1.42%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 943.40p -1.11%
Inchcape (INCH) 769.50p -1.03%
Rank Group (RNK) 241.50p -1.02%
Inmarsat (ISAT) 528.00p -1.01%
888 Holdings (888) 292.40p -0.95%