Hot Features
Premium
Level up your trading with our powerful tools and real-time insights all in one place.
London open: Stocks gain ahead of busy week; Reckitt tumbles on litigation fears
London stocks rose in early trade on Monday as investors eyed a week jam-packed with earnings releases and the latest policy announcements from the Federal Reserve and the Bank of England.
At 0845 BST, the FTSE 100 was up 0.6% at 8,335.95.
Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor, said earnings season was set to be “at full throttle” in the UK this week.
“Updates from BP and Shell will be among the highlights, in addition to releases from the likes of Diageo, Next, International Consolidated Airlines and Rolls-Royce,” he said.
“For the banks, HSBC, Standard Chartered and Barclays will round off the season, hoping to repeat the strong lead given so far from Lloyds Banking and NatWest, where creditable half-year performances were boosted by a strong second quarter.
“There will also be some focus on the Bank of England, which will reveal its latest interest rate decision on Thursday. At present, the consensus is evenly split between a cut and a no-change decision, with the latest economic data having seemingly been unbale to provide a definitive steer. A cut at some point this year is nevertheless expected, although the timing remains on the flip of a coin.”
Looking ahead to the rest of the day, net lending, consumer credit and mortgage approvals figures for June are all due at 0930 BST.
Investors were also eyeing a statement to Parliament on Monday afternoon by Chancellor Rachel Reeves, who is expected to reveal cuts to plug a £20bn black hole in public finances.
In equity markets, consumer goods firm Reckitt Benckiser tumbled amid potential litigation concerns, after a US jury found on Friday that formula by Abbott Laboratories had caused a girl to develop bowel disease. Abbott was ordered to pay $495m in damages.
Jefferies said in a research note: “This is likely to depress sentiment on the risk for both cited defendants (Reckitt and Abbott) in these claims, we think.
“RKT share price we estimate is already discounting for circa £3/$3.5bn of liability risk next year. But with its own new individual trial due to start on 30 Sept & MDL class action gaining momentum, that risk may be extended this week we think.”
Educational publisher Pearson was also in the red despite saying it delivered a “solid” performance in the first half, with underlying sales and profits ahead of last year, as it reiterated its outlook for the next two years.
Entain fell as it said that BetMGM, its sports betting and iGaming operator in the US, surpassed the $1bn mark for revenues in the first half, but still made a loss as a result of heavy investments during the period.
Food producer Cranswick rose as it held annual guidance after first-quarter revenue rose 6.7% on the back of strong volume growth.
Top 10 FTSE 100 Risers
| Sponsored by Plus500 |
|
| # | Name | Change Pct | Change | Cur Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  |
Segro Plc | +2.31% | +20.60 | 912.60 |
| 2 |  |
Prudential Plc | +2.22% | +15.20 | 700.20 |
| 3 |  |
Bp Plc | +1.93% | +8.75 | 463.25 |
| 4 |  |
Centrica Plc | +1.91% | +2.50 | 133.45 |
| 5 |  |
British Land Company Plc | +1.80% | +7.20 | 407.00 |
| 6 |  |
Hsbc Holdings Plc | +1.71% | +11.40 | 676.60 |
| 7 |  |
Barclays Plc | +1.71% | +3.95 | 235.35 |
| 8 |  |
Astrazeneca Plc | +1.59% | +194.00 | 12,374.00 |
| 9 |  |
Bt Group Plc | +1.57% | +2.20 | 142.70 |
| 10 |  |
Standard Chartered Plc | +1.55% | +11.20 | 734.20 |
Top 10 FTSE 100 Fallers
| Sponsored by Plus500 |
|
| # | Name | Change Pct | Change | Cur Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  |
Pearson Plc | -3.52% | -37.00 | 1,014.00 |
| 2 |  |
Ocado Group Plc | -2.00% | -8.90 | 437.00 |
| 3 |  |
Flutter Entertainment Plc | -1.17% | -180.00 | 15,170.00 |
| 4 |  |
Easyjet Plc | -0.86% | -4.00 | 459.60 |
| 5 |  |
Burberry Group Plc | -0.67% | -5.00 | 742.20 |
| 6 |  |
Rentokil Initial Plc | -0.62% | -2.90 | 464.90 |
| 7 |  |
Fresnillo Plc | -0.60% | -3.50 | 575.50 |
| 8 |  |
International Consolidated Airlines Group S.a. | -0.54% | -0.90 | 166.25 |
| 9 |  |
Coca-cola Hbc Ag | -0.49% | -14.00 | 2,832.00 |
| 10 |  |
Diageo Plc | -0.43% | -11.00 | 2,554.50 |
Monday newspaper round-up: Clean energy, Evri, UK manufacturing
The chief executive of Vodafone has said Labour will fail to achieve its promise of nationwide access to 5G, which is essential for next-generation technology such as artificial intelligence, by 2030 if the telecom company’s £15bn merger with the rival Three UK is blocked. In its election manifesto, the government said nationwide coverage was needed by the end of the decade because the UK was falling behind other countries in terms of the investment and rollout of advanced mobile networks. – Guardian
Labour’s clean energy targets may already be in jeopardy just weeks after the party came to power with the promise to quadruple Britain’s offshore wind power, according to senior industry executives. The offshore wind industry has said there will not be enough time to develop the projects needed to create a net zero electricity system by the end of the decade unless ministers increase the ambition and funding of the government’s upcoming “make or break” subsidy auctions. – Guardian
The parcel delivery business Evri is to hire 9,000 extra workers in a race to take on Royal Mail, just days after agreeing to be taken over by a giant buyout fund. Evri said it planned to take on 8,000 more delivery drivers and 1,000 more workers amid exploding demand for online shopping. Last week, the US private equity giant Apollo reached a deal to buy Evri for £2.7bn after outbidding rivals in an auction. It pledged to further invest in expansion amid an online delivery arms race. – Telegraph
Optimism among senior executives at some of Britain’s biggest businesses has increased after Labour’s landslide general election victory this month. Risk appetite is up, fears about uncertainty have retreated sharply and revenue growth predictions are rising, according to Deloitte’s latest survey of chief financial officers. – The Times
The UK has fallen out of the world’s top ten leading nations for manufacturing for the first time amid a “redrawing of the contours” of the global economy. In the most recent rankings, for 2022, Britain dropped to 12th place. That was down from eighth the year before, according to an analysis by Make UK. – The Times
