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London open: Energy rally leads stocks higher, profit warnings take shine off
London stocks nudged higher in early trade on Wednesday thanks to a strong performance from the energy sector, but profit profit warnings took much of the shine off markets.
At 0830 BST, the FTSE 100 was up 0.1% to 7,546.87, while the pound was down 0.2% against the euro at 1.1339 and flat versus the dollar at 1.3227.
Earlier, the latest survey from mortgage lender Nationwide revealed that house prices in the UK rose at their slowest annual rate in five years in June amid subdued economic activity and squeezed household budgets.
House prices were up 2%, down from 2.4% growth in May but above expectations for a 1.7% increase. On the month, prices were up 0.5% in June, accelerating from 0.2% growth the month before and ahead of expectations of 0.3% growth.
London was the weakest performing region in the second quarter and the only region to see a decline, with prices down 1.9% on the year. Still, prices in the capital remain more than 50% higher than their 2007 peak, with prices in the UK overall just 15% higher.
Nationwide’s chief economist, Robert Gardner, said: “Indeed, annual house price growth has been confined to a fairly narrow range of circa 2-3% over the past 12 months, suggesting little change in the balance between demand and supply in the market over that period. There are few signs of an imminent change. Surveyors continue to report subdued levels of new buyer enquiries, while the supply of properties on the market remains more of a trickle than a torrent.”
Oil majors provided much of the upside on Wednesday, with BP and Shell both higher as oil prices rallied after US API data on Tuesday showed that crude stocks were down 9.2m barrels for the week ended 22 June, versus expectations for a 2.3m barrel draw.
Konstantinos Anthis, head of research at ADSS, said: “The black gold has been on a bull run over the past few days gaining more than $7 per barrel and it now remains to be seen whether the production increase agreed between the OPEC members will allow prices to remain around the $70 mark. The key support remains at the $68 area and as long as we trade above this then a move towards the $73 May highs remains in the cards.”
Carnival was sitting pretty at the top of the FTSE 100 as Berenberg upgraded the cruise operator to ‘buy’, while Sainsbury’s followed close behind as Barclays boosted the stock to ‘overweight’.
Intermediate Capital was the best performer on the 250, meanwhile, after an upgrade to ‘buy’ from ‘neutral’ by Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
Elsewhere in broker note action, Petrofac was lifted to ‘buy’ at Kepler Cheuvreux, while Independent Oil & Gas was started at ‘buy’ by Peel Hunt.
Whitbread rose after saying it expected annual results to meet expectations as it reported declining like-for-like sales at its Premier Inn and Costa coffee businesses in the first quarter.
AstraZeneca edged up after it said that a phase 3 trial of its cancer drug Lynparza showed success in improving progression-free survival for women with advanced ovarian cancer with a mutation in the BRCA gene.
Housebuilder and urban regeneration partner Countryside Properties was in the green as it said that current trading was in line with expectations and issued new medium-term guidance.
On the downside, there were two profit warnings for investors to sink their teeth into, with serviced office provider IWG and defence company Ultra Electronics in the frame.
IWG sank after cutting its 2018 operating profit forecast by between £15m and £20m, citing the cost of opening new space and weakness in its UK business.
Meanwhile, Ultra Electronics tumbled after saying it now expects full-year operating profit at constant currencies to be down between £4m and £6m as its US defence and aerospace business Herley, took a hit from cost overruns on development contracts.
Distribution and outsourcing group Bunzl retreated after saying it slowed to a “more normal” pace of growth in the second quarter of the year. Group revenue for six months ending 30 June is expected to have increased 5% at the reported level or 11% if the effect of currency swings is ignored.
Broadcaster ITV fell as it announced the retirement of its chief operating officer and group finance director Ian Griffiths.
