London open: Stocks rise as sterling drops on Brexit worries
London stocks rose in early trade on Wednesday, helped along by a weaker pound, despite ongoing concerns about the prospect of tighter lockdown restrictions.
At 0845 BST, the FTSE 100 was up 0.3% at 5,988.72, while sterling was down 0.5% against the dollar at 1.2875. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is due to hold a call with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen later in the day ahead of a two-day meeting of the European Council at the end of the week, during which Brexit talks are on the agenda.
According to draft conclusions seen by Bloomberg, EU leaders meeting in Brussels will say that "progress on the key issues of interest to the Union is still not sufficient for an agreement to be reached".
According to the draft, the 27 leaders will invite the EU’s Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, "to intensify negotiations with the aim of ensuring that an agreement can be applied from 1 January 2021". They will also urge member states and EU institutions to increase preparedness for the possibility of a no-deal situation.
Spreadex analyst Connor Campbell said: "Despite opening in a world edging towards the kind of restrictions seen six months ago, the European markets held their nerve at Wednesday’s open, even if they were unable to do much more than that.
"There was also the added pressured of a pause in the Eli Lilly monoclonal antibody trial to treat coronavirus, just a day on from the stalled progress of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine trial.
"The FTSE had the edge on its eurozone peers thanks to the pound’s Brexit anxieties."
Connor said sterling was being hit by worries over Thursday’s Boris Johnson-set ‘deadline’, "and whether or not a) a deal is going to miraculously appear in time, or b) the end date for negotiations will be extended."
In equity markets, distribution and services group Bunzl rallied after it reported a rise in third-quarter revenue thanks to the sale of Covid-19 related products and said second-half revenue was expected to grow strongly.
Education publisher Pearson gained as it posted a 14% decline in revenue for the first nine months of 2020 but said the trend was improving in the third quarter, with a strong performance from its global online learning business.
Just Eat was in the black after the food-ordering firm reported a 46% year-on-year rise in orders during the third quarter, driven by continuing coronavirus curbs.
Ashmore advanced after the asset manager said assets under management rose 2.3% in the first quarter.
On the downside, stocks with exposure to the pandemic and related restrictions were under the cosh again, with British Airways parent IAG and Premier Inn owner Whitbread both lower.
On the FTSE 250, Cineworld, Upper Crust owner SSP, cruise operator Carnival and pub chain Mitchells & Butlers were also weaker.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 5,988.72 0.32%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 17,927.66 0.20%
techMARK (TASX) 3,866.83 0.24%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Bunzl (BNZL) 2,694.00p 5.52%
Pearson (PSON) 597.20p 4.81%
Just Eat Takeaway.Com N.V. (CDI) (JET) 9,212.00p 4.18%
DCC (DCC) 5,560.00p 3.19%
Kingfisher (KGF) 312.40p 1.53%
WPP (WPP) 666.60p 1.21%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 204.80p 1.14%
Standard Life Aberdeen (SLA) 247.30p 1.10%
Aveva Group (AVV) 4,584.00p 1.08%
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 791.60p 1.00%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 95.82p -1.84%
Whitbread (WTB) 2,254.00p -0.84%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 368.50p -0.78%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 2,446.00p -0.65%
Prudential (PRU) 1,131.50p -0.61%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 533.00p -0.58%
Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 1,469.00p -0.58%
Compass Group (CPG) 1,208.50p -0.53%
Next (NXT) 6,102.00p -0.52%
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 4,300.00p -0.51%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Just Eat Takeaway.Com N.V. (CDI) (JET) 9,212.00p 4.18%
Ashmore Group (ASHM) 375.40p 3.42%
Hays (HAS) 120.10p 3.18%
Signature Aviation (SIG) 241.60p 2.50%
Victrex plc (VCT) 2,062.00p 2.28%
Aggreko (AGK) 449.80p 2.23%
AO World (AO.) 230.00p 1.55%
Petropavlovsk (POG) 30.10p 1.52%
Energean (ENOG) 559.30p 1.51%
UDG Healthcare Public Limited Company (UDG) 755.00p 1.48%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Biffa (BIFF) 224.00p -3.03%
Cineworld Group (CINE) 27.48p -2.73%
Assura (AGR) 75.00p -2.72%
SSP Group (SSPG) 182.80p -2.40%
Network International Holdings (NETW) 298.80p -2.16%
Ascential (ASCL) 307.00p -1.35%
Carnival (CCL) 918.20p -1.31%
Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 542.00p -1.31%
IP Group (IPO) 84.00p -1.18%
Mitchells & Butlers (MAB) 135.40p -1.17%