London open: Stocks rise on sterling weakness despite vaccine news
London stocks rose in early trade on Wednesday despite a tech-led selloff on Wall Street and some disappointing Covid-19 vaccines news, helped along by a weaker pound.
At 0855 BST, the FTSE 100 was up 1% at 5,990.93, while sterling was down 0.3% against the dollar at 1.2943, as the UK was set to publish its new internal market bill, which will set out how trade operates across the UK after Brexit.
Sterling was also under pressure following confirmation that the government plans to backtrack on the Brexit agreement on Northern Ireland in a move that will break international law.
A weaker pound tends to benefit the top-flight index, as around 70% of its constituents derive most of their earnings from overseas.
This helped to offset news that AstraZeneca and Oxford University's Covid-19 vaccine trial has been put on hold after a participant in the UK had a suspected adverse reaction.
Neil Wilson, chief market analyst at Markets.com, said: "The FTSE 100 is enjoying the pound’s distress with heavyweight dollar-earners like BP, Shell, Unilever and British American Tobacco among the best risers.
"Nevertheless, investors are becoming worried again about rising Covid cases across many developed markets which threaten the trajectory of the recovery and may well weigh on demand in a number of sectors.
"There is also some negative headlines around work on a vaccine which may weigh on risk a touch, or at least provide algos with a sell signal."
In equity markets, Avon rose after announcing the acquisition of US-based military helmet maker Team Wendy for $130m (£100m), as it maintained full-year guidance.
Computacenter rallied after saying it expects annual adjusted pre-tax profit to be at least £180m as it reported a 39.4% increase in first-half profit to £74.6m. The company also announced an agreement to buy Canada's Pivot Technology for C$105.8m (£62m) to expand in the US and Canada.
Waste management firm Biffa also gained as it said revenues had recovered to 90% of full-year levels, with underlying profits improving monthly as it maintained annual guidance.
On the downside, travel-related stocks were weaker on the vaccine news, with British Airways parents IAG, Premier Inn owner Whitbread, InterContinental Hotels, easyJet, Carnival and TUI all down.
Oxford Biomedica suffered heavy losses on the vaccine news as the company recently signed a supply agreement with AstraZeneca.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 5,990.93 1.02%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 17,643.54 0.10%
techMARK (TASX) 3,847.48 0.69%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Ashtead Group (AHT) 2,777.00p 2.85%
Unilever (ULVR) 4,695.00p 2.78%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 2,643.00p 2.64%
Halma (HLMA) 2,267.00p 2.35%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 7,466.00p 2.33%
National Grid (NG.) 871.20p 2.33%
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,527.40p 2.32%
Royal Dutch Shell 'A' (RDSA) 1,089.00p 2.23%
BP (BP.) 264.20p 2.21%
Imperial Brands (IMB) 1,355.00p 2.15%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Polymetal International (POLY) 1,894.00p -4.03%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 200.30p -3.61%
Whitbread (WTB) 2,378.00p -2.98%
ITV (ITV) 62.84p -2.51%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 214.00p -2.24%
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 4,393.00p -1.88%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 113.10p -1.48%
Rightmove (RMV) 614.60p -1.19%
Informa (INF) 397.30p -1.17%
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 787.60p -1.03%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Avon Rubber (AVON) 3,965.00p 6.73%
Computacenter (CCC) 2,266.00p 3.94%
PPHE Hotel Group Ltd (PPH) 1,020.00p 3.03%
Network International Holdings (NETW) 406.80p 2.68%
Oxford Instruments (OXIG) 1,628.00p 2.52%
BlackRock Smaller Companies Trust (BRSC) 1,242.00p 2.48%
Spectris (SXS) 2,770.00p 2.29%
XP Power Ltd. (DI) (XPP) 4,550.00p 2.25%
National Express Group (NEX) 123.10p 2.24%
Pagegroup (PAGE) 396.40p 2.22%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Oxford Biomedica (OXB) 755.00p -12.21%
Cineworld Group (CINE) 53.90p -5.47%
easyJet (EZJ) 570.20p -4.55%
Wetherspoon (J.D.) (JDW) 1,001.00p -4.30%
WH Smith (SMWH) 1,139.00p -4.12%
Carnival (CCL) 1,118.00p -4.03%
Fisher (James) & Sons (FSJ) 1,254.00p -3.83%
Capita (CPI) 29.53p -3.62%
Mitchells & Butlers (MAB) 158.40p -3.41%
TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 346.20p -3.27%