London open: Stocks nudge up as investors eye inflation data; Ashtead rallies

London stocks nudged higher in early trade on Tuesday as investors eyed the release of key UK inflation data.

At 0830 GMT, the FTSE 100 was up 0.1% to 7,458.99, while the pound was flat against the euro at 1.1338 and 0.1% firmer against the dollar at 1.3360.

The Office for National Statistics will publish the latest consumer price index, retail price index and producer price index at 0930 GMT.

Spreadex analyst Connor Campbell said: "November’s CPI reading is expected to remain unchanged at 3.0% for the third month in a row, potentially allaying fears - in part prompted by certain actions taken by the Bank of England - that the figure would keep climbing across the final quarter of the year.

"It’ll be interesting to see how sterling reacts to such steadiness: on one hand if the inflation data does stay the same, then there’s little chance of the BoE changing its dovish-ish stance any time soon; on the other, a sign that things might be easing for UK consumer heading into Christmas would be welcome."

In corporate news, industrial equipment rental firm Ashtead rallied after it posted a 16% rise in half-year pre-tax profits to £493.1m and announced the start of a share buyback programme, of at least £500m and up to £1bn over the next 18 months.

Construction group Balfour Beatty was trading up after saying it is "increasingly confident" of improving margins this year as it continues to win new business on better terms.

GlaxoSmithKline was higher after saying it has presented promising new data from the dose expansion phase of a study of an investigational anti-B-cell antibody-drug conjugate to treat cancer.

Aggreko nudged up after giving a timeline to the appointment of its new chief financial officer, confirming that Heath Drewett would take up the role on 3 January.

Power generator Drax slipped after it said trading conditions remained in line with expectations since interim results reported on July 19.

Experian was boosted by an upgrade to 'outperform' at Exane, while Homeserve gained as JPMorgan Cazenove lifted the stock to 'overweight' and Grainger was up on the back of an initiation at 'overweight' by Barclays.

EasyJet flew higher following an upgrade to 'outperform' at Davy, but Mediclinic and Moneysupermarket were hit by downgrades from JPMorgan Cazenove, while Capital & Counties was weaker as Barclays initiated coverage of the stock at 'underweight'.

Pub group Greene King was under the cosh after a downgrade to 'underweight' from JPMorgan, with Marston's following suit.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,458.99 0.07%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,043.06 -0.11%
techMARK (TASX) 3,470.50 0.16%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Ashtead Group (AHT) 2,113.00p 4.66%
Experian (EXPN) 1,590.00p 1.60%
Centrica (CNA) 143.50p 1.41%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 634.00p 0.96%
easyJet (EZJ) 1,452.00p 0.90%
Tesco (TSCO) 207.25p 0.85%
Worldpay Group (WPG) 431.10p 0.75%
SEGRO (SGRO) 559.50p 0.72%
Babcock International Group (BAB) 679.50p 0.67%
Severn Trent (SVT) 2,098.00p 0.62%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Mediclinic International (MDC) 591.00p -1.66%
Glencore (GLEN) 347.15p -1.18%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,502.00p -1.02%
Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 219.60p -0.81%
Merlin Entertainments (MERL) 362.00p -0.79%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 766.10p -0.79%
TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 1,384.00p -0.79%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 66.15p -0.74%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 243.50p -0.49%
Imperial Brands (IMB) 3,057.50p -0.49%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Homeserve (HSV) 806.00p 2.68%
Grainger (GRI) 293.00p 2.38%
Balfour Beatty (BBY) 276.61p 1.70%
Man Group (EMG) 202.50p 1.45%
Drax Group (DRX) 272.60p 1.41%
Telecom Plus (TEP) 1,204.00p 1.26%
Serco Group (SRP) 94.90p 1.12%
Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 3,503.00p 1.07%
Rank Group (RNK) 248.60p 1.06%
Sirius Minerals (SXX) 24.93p 1.01%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Marston's (MARS) 116.40p -3.80%
Greene King (GNK) 508.50p -3.51%
Ladbrokes Coral Group (LCL) 173.60p -2.14%
Moneysupermarket.com Group (MONY) 335.30p -2.13%
Capital & Counties Properties (CAPC) 263.60p -2.08%
GVC Holdings (GVC) 937.50p -1.83%
IP Group (IPO) 142.60p -1.79%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 138.40p -1.70%
Fisher (James) & Sons (FSJ) 1,572.00p -1.57%
Jupiter Fund Management (JUP) 604.00p -1.23%