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London open: Stocks gain as Kingfisher, Moonpig rally
London stocks rose in early trade on Monday as investors brushed aside concerns about global growth and inflation, at least for now.
At 0850 BST, the FTSE 100 was 0.9% firmer at 7,457.15.
Victoria Scholar, head of investment at Interactive Investor, said: “European markets are staging gains this morning with the DAX up by nearly 1.5% while the FTSE 100 has pushed above 7,450 as it looks towards 7,500 as the next near-term resistance hurdle.
“Most stocks in the UK index are in the green with Kingfisher leading the charge thanks to its surprise share buyback announcement.
“US futures are pointing higher after the Dow logged its eight consecutive weekly decline and after the S&P 500 briefly fell into bear market territory on Friday before clawing back earlier losses into the close.”
In equity markets, B&Q owner Kingfisher jumped to the top of the FTSE 100 after it reiterated annual guidance, reported an expected fall in first-quarter sales and announced a £300m share buyback. The company said total group sales fell 5.8% to £3.2bn in the three months to April 22, in line with its expectations, against tough comparators last year when a DIY boom amid Covid lockdowns boosted revenues.
IT provider Kainos racked up strong gains after its full-year results and following an upgrade to ‘buy’ from ‘hold’ at Canaccord.
Moonpig surged after agreeing to buy UK gifting group Buyagift for £124m.
Scholar said: “Shares in Moonpig have jumped more than 13% as investors cheer the acquisition of this cash generative, high growth business. While Moonpig is best known for selling greetings cards online, its plans to expand further into gifts via this acquisition could help broaden its product offering and boost margins, particularly for some of the more expensive add-on products beyond its bread and butter.
“Moonpig is also likely to benefit from significant synergies as the two businesses overlap and come together to save costs. After an initial surge on IPO day last year, Moonpig shares have struggled alongside other UK tech companies like TGH. With shares down around 40% since the January high, today’s acquisition comes as a welcomed update for investors and arguably could mark the start of a more bullish phase for the online greetings cards business.”
Top 10 FTSE 100 Risers
| # | Name | Change Pct | Change | Cur Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  |
Anglo American Plc | +2.19% | +77.00 | 3,600.50 |
| 2 |  |
International Consolidated Airlines Group S.a. | +2.11% | +2.64 | 127.72 |
| 3 |  |
Kingfisher Plc | +2.03% | +5.00 | 251.80 |
| 4 |  |
Aviva Plc | +1.92% | +7.90 | 420.00 |
| 5 |  |
Vodafone Group Plc | +1.87% | +2.26 | 123.36 |
| 6 |  |
Flutter Entertainment Plc | +1.81% | +166.00 | 9,354.00 |
| 7 |  |
Bae Systems Plc | +1.74% | +13.00 | 761.60 |
| 8 |  |
Shell Plc | +1.69% | +39.50 | 2,376.00 |
| 9 |  |
Bp Plc | +1.68% | +7.00 | 424.20 |
| 10 |  |
Burberry Group Plc | +1.64% | +26.00 | 1,612.00 |
Top 10 FTSE 100 Fallers
| # | Name | Change Pct | Change | Cur Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  |
Intertek Group Plc | -5.27% | -258.00 | 4,641.00 |
| 2 |  |
Sainsbury (j) Plc | -1.25% | -2.90 | 229.80 |
| 3 |  |
Wpp Plc | -1.15% | -11.00 | 949.60 |
| 4 |  |
Smurfit Kappa Group Plc | -1.03% | -32.00 | 3,064.00 |
| 5 |  |
Imperial Brands Plc | -0.98% | -17.50 | 1,773.00 |
| 6 |  |
Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust Plc | -0.92% | -6.80 | 730.20 |
| 7 |  |
Associated British Foods Plc | -0.90% | -14.50 | 1,599.50 |
| 8 |  |
Segro Plc | -0.90% | -10.00 | 1,106.50 |
| 9 |  |
Marks And Spencer Group Plc | -0.84% | -1.15 | 135.75 |
| 10 |  |
Unilever Plc | -0.57% | -20.00 | 3,496.50 |
US close: Dow Jones registers first eight-week losing streak since 1923
Wall Street stocks turned in a mixed performance on Friday as the Dow Jones registered its first eight-week losing streak since 1923.
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.03% at 31,261.90 and the S&P 500 was 0.01% firmer at 3,901.36, while the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 0.30% weaker at 11,354.62.
The Dow closed just 8.77 points higher on Friday, doing little to reclaim losses recorded in the previous session as softer-than-expected earnings from big-name retailers continued to weigh on sentiment.
Stocks initially got a slight boost following news that China had cut its key benchmark mortgage interest rate overnight after Covid-related shutdowns pounded the country’s economy.
The People’s Bank of China cut its five-year loan prime rate, its mortgage reference rate, by a bigger-than-expected 15 basis points, to 4.45%, and left the one-year rate unchanged at 3.7%. Analysts had been expecting a five basis points reduction across both tenures.
However, both the Dow Jones and S&P 500 gave up early gains to end the session little changed, despite positive movements early in the session, with the latter officially dipping into bear market territory on an intraday basis. The Nasdaq, the only major average to close lower on Friday, was already deep into bear market territory, with the index down roughly 30% from its all-time high.
In the corporate space, sportswear retailer Foot Locker posted first-quarter earnings of $133.0m ahead of the bell, beating Wall Street expectations, while revenues of $2.17bn fell short of consensus estimates.
No major data points were released on Friday.
Monday newspaper round-up: HSBC, pay gap, M&S, NMCN
HSBC has suspended a senior banker after he referred to climate crisis warnings as “unsubstantiated” and “shrill” during a conference speech that has since been denounced by the lender’s chief executive. Stuart Kirk, who has been HSBC’s head of responsible investing since last July, will remain suspended until the bank completes an internal investigation into the matter. – Guardian
The gap between the pay of bosses and employees will widen again this year after narrowing during the pandemic, research suggests. FTSE 350 chief executives are expected to collect 63 times the average median pay of workers at their companies , according to the High Pay Centre thinktank, which campaigns for fairer pay structures. – Guardian
A year and a half after taking the helm at one of Britain’s oldest brands, Steve Rowe admitted he was still “putting out fires”. It was November 2017 and Marks & Spencer had posted another fall in profits. The new 54-year-old chief executive, often described as a people person, had inherited a business in desperate need of a revival. – Telegraph
Farmers have warned that supermarket shelves could be packed with cartons of Polish eggs as retailers turn to foreign suppliers in the face of escalating food prices. Britain’s egg farmers are wrangling with soaring costs, which have gone up by almost a third since the start of the year, sparking pressure on supermarkets to pay them more for their produce. – Telegraph
Administrators of the largest listed construction company to go bust since Carillion have brought in lawyers to investigate its collapse. Joint administrators at Grant Thornton have instructed Gateley, the law firm, to help them to look into the background to NMCN’s failure. – The Times
