London open: Stocks rise as investors mull Powell comments

London stocks hit a record high in early trade on Wednesday, having taken their opening cue from gains on Wall Street, as investors mulled the latest comments from US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell.

At 0830 GMT, the FTSE 100 was up 0.5% at 7,906.52.

Powell said on Tuesday that he was expecting to see "significant" declines in inflation this year, but also acknowledged that interest rates may need to rise further amid job market strength.

Victoria Scholar, head of investment at Interactive Investor, said: "The FTSE 100 has hit a fresh record high, surpassing its all-time peak from Friday with BP and Glencore leading the charge while Smurfit Kappa is dragging on the index.

"Following a wobbly start to the week in which global equities were hit by concerns about a more hawkish path from the Fed after a strong US jobs report as well as heightened US-Sino tensions, the UK large-cap index has restored its bullish momentum. Yesterday Fed Chair Jerome Powell said inflation is easing, raising hopes that the US could be approaching the peak for interest rates. A strong close on Wall Street with the Nasdaq ending the session up by 1.9% has helped drive a positive start to the European session."

In equity markets, BP was the top performer on the index, advancing for the second day in a row after posting record profits on Tuesday.

Housebuilder Barratt Developments ticked higher as it posted a jump in profits but cut its dividend, as the housing market started to cool down in response to rising interest rates and mortgage costs.

The company reduced the interim dividend by 9% to 10.2p a share as it posted pre-tax profits of £501.5m, up 15.9%, with revenue up 24% to £2.8bn.

Elsewhere, transport operator FirstGroup gained after saying it had agreed to buy buy Essex-based bus group Ensignbus for an undisclosed sum.

On the downside, corrugated packaging company Smurfit Kappa slumped even as it posted a rise in full-year profit and revenue and lifted its final dividend, as it said that inflation had moderated in the latter part of the year. Peers DS Smith and Mondi also lost ground.

PZ Cussons was in the red as the Imperial Leather maker reiterated its outlook for FY23 "despite the challenging macro environment".

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,906.52 0.53%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,322.93 0.66%
techMARK (TASX) 4,547.29 0.70%

FTSE 100 - Risers

BP (BP.) 528.30p 2.30%
Glencore (GLEN) 560.00p 1.67%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 729.40p 1.64%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 109.50p 1.43%
Halma (HLMA) 2,303.00p 1.41%
Anglo American (AAL) 3,432.50p 1.34%
Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 923.20p 1.18%
Airtel Africa (AAF) 122.50p 1.16%
Rentokil Initial (RTO) 499.80p 1.15%
Weir Group (WEIR) 1,820.00p 1.11%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Smurfit Kappa Group (CDI) (SKG) 3,371.00p -3.35%
Smith (DS) (SMDS) 359.00p -1.56%
Mondi (MNDI) 1,536.00p -1.29%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RKT) 5,732.00p -0.38%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 680.60p -0.29%
Kingfisher (KGF) 280.20p -0.21%
B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 483.70p -0.21%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 267.70p -0.11%
NATWEST GROUP (NWG) 303.70p -0.10%
Unilever (ULVR) 4,100.00p -0.10%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Molten Ventures (GROW) 380.40p 4.11%
FirstGroup (FGP) 112.70p 3.49%
IWG (IWG) 188.00p 2.37%
Harbour Energy (HBR) 305.80p 2.27%
Currys (CURY) 74.00p 2.21%
ASOS (ASC) 933.50p 2.19%
Darktrace (DARK) 248.90p 2.13%
Carnival (CCL) 892.20p 2.06%
Moonpig Group (MOON) 129.50p 2.05%
Redde Northgate (REDD) 428.00p 2.03%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

PZ Cussons (PZC) 205.50p -3.97%
Bridgepoint Group (Reg S) (BPT) 231.20p -3.51%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 133.00p -3.27%
Future (FUTR) 1,571.00p -2.00%
Bank of Georgia Group (BGEO) 2,700.00p -1.28%
Tritax Eurobox (GBP) (EBOX) 69.50p -0.86%
Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust (ASL) 1,400.00p -0.85%
Serco Group (SRP) 147.50p -0.74%
HICL Infrastructure (HICL) 161.20p -0.62%
Barr (A.G.) (BAG) 540.00p -0.55%