London open: Stocks rise as L&G, Taylor Wimpey results impress
London stocks rose in early trade on Wednesday, underpinned by solid results from Legal & General and Taylor Wimpey, as investors eyed the latest reading on the UK services sector.
At 0830 BST, the FTSE 100 was up 0.4% at 7,134.65.
On the data front, Markit's services PMI for July is at 0930 BST. CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson said: "The recent flash PMIs from the UK and US both saw surprise falls in services activity during July, although it was notable that cost pressures remained at elevated levels.
"One reason for the fall in UK services activity, which is expected to be confirmed with a fall to 57.8, is a direct consequence of the so called ‘Pingdemic’, which hampered the economic activity of employees who were self-isolating due to being ‘pinged’ by the NHS Track and Trace app."
In equity markets, Taylor Wimpey rallied to the top of the FTSE 100 after it upgraded annual guidance and reinstated its dividend, as it swung to a first-half profit on the back of a booming housing market. Other housebuilders followed suit, with Barratt, Persimmon and Redrow also higher.
Legal & General gained as it lifted its interim dividend, posted a rise in first-half profit and said its performance was now "well above" pre-Covid levels. Operating profit jumped 14% from the first half of 2020 to £1.1bn, while pre-tax profit came in at £1.1bn, up from £290m the year before, amid at least double-digit growth in all of its businesses.
Rolls-Royce advanced after signing an agreement to sell its Bergen Engines medium speed liquid fuel and gas engines business to global engineering group Langley Holdings for an enterprise value of €63m.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,134.65 0.41%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 23,362.56 0.31%
techMARK (TASX) 4,625.56 0.48%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 172.00p 4.34%
Legal & General Group (LGEN) 270.30p 2.46%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 722.80p 2.23%
Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 1,336.00p 2.02%
Prudential (PRU) 1,403.00p 1.81%
Flutter Entertainment (CDI) (FLTR) 12,170.00p 1.50%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 173.32p 1.42%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 2,158.00p 1.27%
BAE Systems (BA.) 582.00p 1.25%
Persimmon (PSN) 2,929.00p 1.24%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Just Eat Takeaway.Com N.V. (CDI) (JET) 6,294.00p -1.52%
Fresnillo (FRES) 827.00p -1.36%
Imperial Brands (IMB) 1,565.50p -0.70%
Severn Trent (SVT) 2,793.00p -0.50%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 1,068.00p -0.28%
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 2,683.00p -0.26%
Pearson (PSON) 813.40p -0.25%
Informa (INF) 491.30p -0.24%
National Grid (NG.) 925.70p -0.24%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 2,701.00p -0.18%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Rotork (ROR) 346.60p 2.67%
Capita (CPI) 35.66p 2.32%
Redrow (RDW) 654.80p 1.93%
JPMorgan European Discovery Trust (JEDT) 519.00p 1.76%
Travis Perkins (TPK) 1,736.00p 1.73%
Petropavlovsk (POG) 21.54p 1.70%
Micro Focus International (MCRO) 412.90p 1.65%
4Imprint Group (FOUR) 2,825.00p 1.62%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 139.65p 1.60%
Hiscox Limited (DI) (HSX) 937.00p 1.58%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Dr. Martens (DOCS) 413.20p -3.41%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 480.40p -2.99%
Cairn Energy (CNE) 127.20p -2.45%
Spire Healthcare Group (SPI) 229.00p -1.72%
Just Eat Takeaway.Com N.V. (CDI) (JET) 6,294.00p -1.52%
VinaCapital Vietnam Opportunity Fund Ltd. (VOF) 470.50p -1.47%
Indivior (INDV) 168.70p -1.40%
Wood Group (John) (WG.) 222.50p -1.24%
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 1,971.00p -0.88%
Chrysalis Investments Limited NPV (CHRY) 243.00p -0.82%