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London open: Stocks edge lower ahead of data slew; BHP, Antofagasta in focus
Stocks in London edged lower in early trade despite strong cues from the US as investors braced for a slew of key data releases.
At 0820 BST, the FTSE 100 index was down 0.4% to 6,912.15.
Spreadex analyst Connor Campbell said: “Finally this Tuesday the UK is going to get a better sense of the Brexit impact with the first fully post-referendum inflation reading.
“The consensus seems to be that inflation will remain unchanged at 0.5%; however, given the state of the pound some analysts have floated that it could creep up to 0.6% for July, which would be the highest figure since the end of 2014. In anticipation of the CPI reading the pound is having a rather mixed morning, jumping by 0.2% against the dollar to re-cross the 1.29 mark it fell below yesterday, while plunging another 0.3% against the euro to sink under 1.15. Even the FTSE is looking fairly jittery, the UK index slipping half a percent to fall away from yesterday’s fresh 14 month highs.”
The UK consumer price index, the retail price index and the producer price index are all due at 0930 BST.
In corporate news, miner BHP Billiton edged higher despite reporting a record loss in the year to the end of June and slashing its dividend as weaker commodity prices, writedowns and the dam disaster in Brazil took their toll.
Chilean copper mining colossus Antofagasta rallied after it reported lower first-half revenue but said it had improved earnings and kept its dividend flat thanks to some heavy cost cutting.
International infrastructure group Balfour Beatty was a bit firmer after being awarded a $697m contract to undertake electrification of the 52-mile Caltrain rail corridor between San Francisco and San Jose, in preparation for the future operation of high speed trains.
On the downside, oil services firm Wood Group was weaker as it posted a drop in profit and revenue for the first half amid “challenging” conditions in the oil and gas market but reaffirmed its outlook for the full year.
AstraZeneca nudged lower after saying it has completed a licensing agreement with LEO Pharma, a specialist in dermatology care, for the global licence to monoclonal antibody tralokinumab in skin diseases.
Oil prices retreated on Tuesday following strong gains in the previous session, with West Texas Intermediate down 0.7% to $45.51 a barrel and Brent crude off 0.8% at $47.98.
