London open: Stocks edge down as investors fret about Italy, US-China relations
London stocks edged down in early trade on Wednesday as worries about Italian politics continued to weigh on investors’ minds and after US President Trump renewed his threat to impose $50bn of tariffs on Chinese imports.
At 0840 BST, the FTSE 100 was down 0.2% to 7,621.49, while the pound was up 0.2% against the dollar at 1.3271 and down 0.1% versus the euro at 1.1464.
CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson said: "It was a bad start to the week for markets in Europe and the US as stocks on both sides of the Atlantic fell sharply over concerns that political instability in Europe might cause financial dislocation to the banking system across the continent, as banking stocks got hammered, and investors piled into US treasuries, gold, and the safe havens of the Swiss franc and Japanese yen.
"These concerns look set to continue this morning with another lower open as investors continue to eye the latest developments in Rome, as well as the prospect of elevated trade tensions after President Trump announced that the US would be proceeding with $50bn worth of tariffs on Chinese in imports. With EU exemptions on US tariffs also due to expire this Friday, markets are likely to find it difficult to catch a break today."
In corporate news, Royal Bank of Scotland was in the red as it announced that its chief financial officer and executive director Ewen Stevenson has resigned to take up an opportunity elsewhere.
LondonMetric was just a smidgen lower after it said full-year EPRA earnings rose 15.9% to £59.1m and net rental income was up 10.8%.
TP ICAP slipped after announcing that chairman Rupert Robson plans to retire at the end of December, while Essentra was little changed as it appointed Lily Liu as its new chief financial officer with effect from 15 November.
AstraZeneca was a touch higher despite saying that the Terranova phase 3 trial of its first respiratory biologic treatment, Fasenra, did not meet its primary endpoint of reducing exacerbations in patients who have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
On the upside, FTSE 250 heat treatment provider Bodycote rallied as it posted a jump in revenue for the first four months of the year and said it now expects full-year revenue to be higher than previously anticipated, with headline operating profit also seen slightly ahead of current consensus forecast.
Phoenix Group nudged up as it launched a £950m capital raising to help fund its £1.97bn acquisition of Standard Life Aberdeen's insurance arm.
In broker note action, Dunelm was cut to ‘neutral’ JPMorgan, while Go-Ahead was downgraded to ‘hold’ at Liberum.
Centamin was upgraded to ‘buy’ at Panmure Gordon and Capital & Counties was lifted to ‘neutral’ Kempen & Co.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,621.49 -0.15%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,709.77 -0.18%
techMARK (TASX) 3,521.79 -0.03%
FTSE 100 - Risers
NMC Health (NMC) 3,700.00p 1.93%
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 3,418.00p 1.15%
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,348.00p 0.75%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 2,008.00p 0.68%
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,506.00p 0.56%
Vodafone Group (VOD) 193.83p 0.54%
SEGRO (SGRO) 650.60p 0.53%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 939.80p 0.51%
CRH (CRH) 2,663.00p 0.49%
Halma (HLMA) 1,353.00p 0.45%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Evraz (EVR) 473.30p -2.35%
Glencore (GLEN) 363.82p -1.90%
London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) 4,428.90p -1.14%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,734.80p -0.97%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 4,176.00p -0.93%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 63.70p -0.92%
Prudential (PRU) 1,802.00p -0.85%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,662.00p -0.81%
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 277.80p -0.79%
Shire Plc (SHP) 4,060.50p -0.75%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Bodycote (BOY) 979.75p 5.92%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 126.10p 4.17%
Pets at Home Group (PETS) 124.80p 1.30%
Daejan Holdings (DJAN) 5,870.00p 1.21%
RPC Group (RPC) 768.80p 1.16%
Thomas Cook Group (TCG) 113.90p 0.98%
GVC Holdings (GVC) 1,018.65p 0.96%
Softcat (SCT) 749.00p 0.94%
Assura (AGR) 56.60p 0.89%
Capital & Counties Properties (CAPC) 308.50p 0.88%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
TalkTalk Telecom Group (TALK) 112.00p -3.78%
Go-Ahead Group (GOG) 1,779.00p -3.26%
Stobart Group Ltd. (STOB) 230.76p -3.04%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 215.13p -2.21%
Man Group (EMG) 178.80p -2.05%
Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 971.40p -2.04%
Dixons Carphone (DC.) 181.60p -1.84%
Cobham (COB) 120.55p -1.83%
Mitchells & Butlers (MAB) 258.20p -1.68%
IMI (IMI) 1,134.00p -1.56%