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London open: Stocks flat as investors eye services data
London stocks wavered in early trade as investors sifted through some corporate news ahead of the release of services data.
At 0830 BST, the FTSE 100 was flat at 6,893.62. At the same time, oil prices were a touch firmer, with West Texas Intermediate up 0.1% to $44.47 a barrel and Brent crude 0.3% firmer at $46.97.
UK services PMI is at 0930 BST.
Spreadex analyst Connor Campbell said: “The figure is broadly expected to follow the same ‘recovery’ trend as its PMI peers, with analysts expecting a jump from 47.4 in July to 49.1 in August. Given, however, the supersized increase made by the manufacturing survey and, to a lesser extent, the better than forecast rise in construction, the services reading may be under a different pressure, something only compounded by the fact it is arguably the most important PMI of the three.”
In corporate news, GlaxoSmitKline nudged up after tests of one of its respiratory drugs found a statistically significant reduction in the rate of attacks suffered by chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients compared to when they receive the standard treatment.
The pioneering Salford Lung Study into the effectiveness and safety of GSK’s drug also showed a similar improvement against patients who were taking a medicine in the same class as Relvar Ellipta.
Wizz Air flew higher after reporting a 17% jump in passenger numbers in August as it announced new routes to and from several central and eastern European countries.
Marks & Spencer was in the black following news reports over the weekend that it plans to cut 500 jobs at its head office this week.
On the downside, LondonMetric Property was a touch weaker after it announced that it has sold a retail park in Warrington for £6.6m, at a net initial yield of 5.4%, and acquired an 89,000 sq ft distribution warehouse in Hemel Hempstead for £8.3m, at a NIY 6.4%.
Shares in construction and maintenance company Carillion slipped after it extended its partnership with utility firm Centrica for a further five years to deliver facilities management and project services, in a deal worth £90m.
US market will be closed on Monday for the Labour Day holiday.
