London open: Stocks edge up despite Capitol Hill chaos
London stocks edged higher in early trade on Thursday despite the chaos on Capitol Hill overnight, with hopes of further US stimulus continuing to underpin sentiment.
At 0835 GMT, the FTSE 100 was up 0.3% at 6,858.65.
Spreadex analyst Connor Campbell said: "The assault on Capitol Hill failed to shake the market’s resolve to start 2021 with their best foot forward. However, Europe did struggle to match its recent growth after the bell.
"Though Biden’s electoral victory is still yet to be officiated due to Wednesday’s attempted fascist insurrection, investors have had confirmed a pair of Democrat victories in Georgia’s run-off races, with Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff becoming the first Black and first Jewish senators in the state’s history.
"Now that the incoming administration has control of the upper and lower chambers of Congress, it is on the Biden government to show they can get things done - and from a market perspective that means a chunky stimulus package to compensate for the compromised bill agreed before Christmas.
"Hopes that Biden and co. will deliver drove the markets higher on Wednesday, and just about allowed Europe to keep its green sheen at the start of Thursday’s trading."
In equity markets, supermarket chain Sainsbury’s rallied as it lifted profit forecasts after a booming festive period as Britons treated themselves to champagne and steaks in response to pandemic restrictions on the size of gatherings and online orders hit record levels.
Sainsbury’s said it now expected to report underlying profit before tax of at least £330m in the year to March 2021 against previous expectations of £270m and compared with £586m a year ago after forgoing business rates relief of £410m.
Ladbrokes owner Entain gained after saying it had offered to buy Swedish sports betting firm Enlabs AB for around SEK2.80bn (£250m), and upgrading its full-year expectations after a "strong" final quarter.
Paper and packaging companies Smurfit Kappa, DS Smith and Mondi were among the top gainers on the back of a bullish note from Jefferies, which upgraded its packaging sector outlook to positive.
Building materials group CRH was also higher after an upgrade to ‘buy’ at Societe Generale.
On the downside, Mitchells & Butlers fell after saying it was planning to raise capital from shareholders with no pubs trading and the company burning through up to £40m a month of cash during the Covid-19 lockdown.
IP Group was under the cosh after Invesco sold 61.9m shares in the company in a placing at 100.5p each.
B&M European Value Retail edged lower after saying that revenue increased 22.5% to £1.4bn in the third quarter on a constant currency basis and that it would pay a special dividend of 20p a share.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 6,858.65 0.25%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,897.64 -0.36%
techMARK (TASX) 4,198.54 0.03%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 241.70p 3.96%
Smurfit Kappa Group (SKG) 3,720.00p 2.93%
CRH (CRH) 3,469.00p 2.57%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 6,259.00p 2.35%
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,275.50p 2.29%
Ferguson (FERG) 9,094.00p 2.02%
Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 1,572.50p 1.98%
Smith (DS) (SMDS) 404.90p 1.86%
Mondi (MNDI) 1,852.00p 1.51%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 3,705.00p 1.48%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
British Land Company (BLND) 471.60p -3.52%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 152.75p -3.38%
Barclays (BARC) 151.62p -2.21%
NATWEST GROUP PLC ORD 100P (NWG) 164.05p -1.94%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 161.65p -1.79%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 681.20p -1.72%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 109.15p -1.71%
Auto Trader Group (AUTO) 599.40p -1.71%
HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 409.25p -1.66%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 36.63p -1.41%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Playtech (PTEC) 453.00p 3.05%
BlackRock World Mining Trust (BRWM) 587.00p 2.80%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 343.00p 2.69%
Contour Global (GLO) 220.00p 2.33%
TR Property Inv Trust (TRY) 408.50p 2.13%
Caledonia Investments (CLDN) 2,935.00p 1.73%
Impax Environmental Markets (IEM) 436.00p 1.63%
Apax Global Alpha Limited (APAX) 193.20p 1.58%
IMI (IMI) 1,274.00p 1.43%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 229.20p 1.42%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Mitchells & Butlers (MAB) 215.00p -9.47%
IP Group (IPO) 102.80p -7.39%
Trainline (TRN) 459.40p -3.73%
SSP Group (SSPG) 326.40p -2.91%
National Express Group (NEX) 235.00p -2.89%
Brewin Dolphin Holdings (BRW) 305.00p -2.71%
easyJet (EZJ) 778.40p -2.63%
Greggs (GRG) 1,873.00p -2.45%
IWG (IWG) 347.60p -2.08%
Wetherspoon (J.D.) (JDW) 1,070.00p -2.01%