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(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London opened higher on Wednesday with the internationally exposed FTSE 100 index benefiting from weakness in the pound and from gains by Bunzl and Just Eat Takeaway.
The large-cap FTSE 100 index was up 24.62 points, or 0.4%, at 5,994.33. The mid-cap FTSE 250 index was up 29.36 points, or 0.3%, at 17,920.37. The AIM All-Share index was down 0.4% at 985.16.
The Cboe UK 100 index was up 0.3% at 594.02. The Cboe 250 was up 0.1% at 15,163.61, and the Cboe Small Companies flat at 9,473.27.
In mainland Europe, the CAC 40 index in Paris was down 0.2% and the DAX 30 in Frankfurt was down 0.1%.
On the London Stock Exchange, Bunzl was the best blue-chip performer, up 5.7% after the distribution firm reported a rise in third-quarter sales due to strong demand for Covid-19 personal protective equipment.
For the three months ended September, revenue for the third quarter was up 4.0% at actual exchange rates and 8.8% at constant exchange rates. Underlying revenue increased strongly by 8.0% at constant exchange rates.
Bunzl attributed the performance to strong sales of Covid-19 related products, from a combination of smaller orders and the more exceptional larger orders. These included gloves, face coverings and hand sanitiser.
Just Eat Takeaway.com was just behind, up 5.5%, after the online takeaway platform said order growth accelerated in the third quarter, leading to a widening gap to its competition in key countries, including the UK and Canada.
The online food ordering company said 46% more orders were placed in the third quarter than a year earlier, due to strong demand in online orders as a result of coronavirus social distancing measures in restaurants. Order growth accelerated from an increase of 32% in the first half of 2020, with orders in the third quarter up 47% in Germany on a year before, 98% in Canada and 43% in the UK.
The company said it continued to enhance its restaurant selection, driven by several new partnerships, including the roll-out of around 800 McDonald's restaurants and 300 Greggs locations in the UK.
Pearson was up 3.0%. The education publisher said it saw an improving trend in the third quarter with a strong performance in Global Online Learning. The company's North American Courseware and Global Assessment units were in line with expectations, while its International business was hurt further by the Covid-19 pandemic.
For the nine months to September 30, group sales were down 14% which Pearson attributed to the coronavirus crisis and test centre and school closures in Global Assessment and International, alongside expected declines in North American Courseware.
Looking ahead, it said: "After nine months Pearson is on track to deliver an outturn broadly in line with market expectations. However, because of the pandemic, larger than usual uncertainties surround the fourth quarter, particularly in International."
On AIM, ASOS was down 5.7% after the online fashion retailer, popular among millennials, said it delivered a strong annual performance despite the significant challenges presented by Covid-19.
However, ASOS struck a note of caution, worrying about the damage being done by lockdowns to the spending power of its young target audience.
For the financial year ended August 31, pretax profit was GBP142.1 million, quadrupling from GBP33.1 million in financial 2019, while revenue rose to GBP3.26 billion from GBP2.73 billion last year.
The retailer said it had an active customer base, up 3.1 million to 23.4 million customers which demonstrated momentum in customer acquisition and high levels of engagement.
In addition, ASOS said it made a solid start to the new financial year and expects to deliver continued improvement in underlying profit.
The fast-fashion retailer was cautious on the outlook for consumer demand and noted economic prospects and lifestyles of 20-somethings "remain disrupted" due to the pandemic.
"Job prospects are uncertain for its core group of customers in their 20s and so the company will have to be very choosy about the ranges and prices it offers to maintain demand and stop returns being a major headache once again," commented Hargreaves Lansdown analyst Susannah Streeter.
The Japanese Nikkei 225 index closed up 0.1%. In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite ended down 0.6%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong is flat - resuming trading after being closed because of a typhoon on Tuesday.
The pound was quoted at USD1.2878 Wednesday morning, down sharply from USD1.2978 at the London equities close Tuesday, amid rising fears of a no-deal Brexit.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson will talk to EU chief Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday, as both sides blame each other for blocking progress in post-Brexit trade talks ahead of a key EU summit.
The pair's call comes on the eve of Johnson's self-imposed deadline for signs of a breakthrough in the talks and was announced after European ministers warned that time was running out for a deal.
"The PM will speak with Ursula von der Leyen tomorrow afternoon. As you'll recall, they agreed to stay in touch on the progress in the negotiations when they spoke earlier this month," Downing Street said. An EU official confirmed the call.
The 27 EU leaders are to meet in Brussels on Thursday, the same day that Johnson has cited as the deadline for a breakthrough.
AxiCorp's Stephen Innes commented: "Anxiety about the prospect of no-deal Brexit continues to amplify as GBPUSD slipped below 1.2900 after pushing beneath the short-term pivot of 1.3000 overnight. With Brexit headline risk elevated and the clock running down on Johnson's October 15 deadline, cable traders are putting their bear face on."
The euro was priced at USD1.1743 early Wednesday, flat from USD1.1741 late Tuesday. Against the yen, the dollar was trading at JPY105.50, little changed from JPY105.53.
Brent oil was quoted at USD42.31 a barrel Wednesday morning, flat from USD42.30 late Tuesday. Gold was trading at USD1,894.02 an ounce, up from USD1,890.88.
The global economic calendar for Wednesday has US producer prices at 1330 BST.
By Arvind Bhunjun; arvindbhunjun@alliancenews.com
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