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(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London opened higher on Thursday, with the FTSE 100 lagging behind continental counterparts, while in the FTSE 250, Morgan Sindall rose sharply after saying it expects its annual performance to top expectations
The FTSE 100 index was up 15.72 points, or 0.2%, at 6,911.01. The mid-cap FTSE 250 was up 116.48 points, or 0.5%, at 22,202.21. The AIM All-Share index was up 0.5% at 1,252.20.
The Cboe UK 100 index was up 0.1% at 687.31. The Cboe 250 was up 0.4% at 19,818.59. The Cboe Small Companies was flat at 14,384.64.
In mainland Europe, the CAC 40 index in Paris and the DAX 30 in Frankfurt were up 0.5% and 0.7% respectively.
"While the Eurozone markets were aggressive in their continued rebound, the FTSE is struggling to get back to 7,000. Instead, a 0.2% increase leaves it just above 6,900, with little on the agenda until tomorrow's flash manufacturing and services PMIs to help generate momentum," said Spreadex analyst Connor Campbell.
In the FTSE 100, Entain was the best performer, up 2.2%. The gambling firm on Wednesday afternoon said sports betting and iGaming operator BetMGM has been the market leader across the US iGaming market during the three-month period to February.
The London-based gambling operator jointly owns BetMGM with MGM Resorts International.
Entain said BetMGM now expects the total addressable market in the US and Canada to be approximately USD32 billion, and it expects to achieve USD1 billion net revenue from operations in 2022.
Peer Flutter Entertainment, which owns US sports betting site FanDuel, was up 1.4% in a positive read-across.
"Entain's equity story is highly appealing with double-digit online revenue growth, online scale, proprietary technology, balance sheet scope for M&A, and US upside from BetMGM. The BetMGM presentation confirmed greater momentum and a longer growth runway than previously expected," said analysts at Jefferies.
Informa was up 0.7% after the publishing and exhibitions firm swung to an annual loss due to event cancellations, but it pointed to a recovery as global vaccination programmes rollout.
For 2020, Informa swung to a pretax loss of GBP1.14 billion after posting a profit of GBP318.7 million in 2019, as revenue slumped 43% to GBP1.66 billion from GBP2.89 billion in the prior year.
Looking ahead, Informa views 2021 as a "transition year", with continued growth in both Subscriptions-led businesses and further expansion in B2B digital services, supported by a progressive return in B2B physical events. The company pointed to an easing of Covid-19 restrictions and customer confidence rebuilding as reasons for optimism.
At the other end of the large-caps, BAE Systems and Antofagasta were the worst performers, down 3.5% and 2.0% respectively. The stocks went ex-dividend, meaning new buyers no longer qualify for the latest payout.
In the FTSE 250, Morgan Sindall was the standout performer, up 11%. The construction company said that, since its annual results in February, all divisions have made further positive operational and strategic progress, with total secured workload of GBP8.1 billion as of March 31.
Morgan Sindall said it is now on track to deliver a full-year performance which is "significantly ahead" of its previous expectations.
Trailing the FTSE 250, Domino's Pizza was 2.0% lower, though it remains up 14% so far in 2021. The pizza delivery chain said trading in the first quarter has been strong, with "exceptional trading over the new year period".
For the first quarter to March 28, UK & Ireland system sales were GBP371.3 million, up 19% on the first quarter of last year. Domino's said sales performance of the delivery business has been "particularly good", more than offsetting the lower sales within the lockdown-hit collection business.
At an order count level, Domino's said it has seen delivery growth of 6.8% in the quarter, with collection reporting some recovery, now trading at 65% of 2019 levels.
"Like-for-like growth continues to be driven largely by pricing which benefited significantly from the VAT cut. We remain sceptical of the 'new strategic plan' with no buy-in from franchisees. With no restart of national campaigns, we find it hard to see how the growth targets will be achieved. With the order counts still negative and the cost of the new franchise offer unknown, we remain Sell," said analysts at Liberum.
The Japanese Nikkei 225 index closed up 2.4% on Thursday. In China, the Shanghai Composite ended down 0.3%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was up 0.6%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney closed 0.7% higher.
The pound was quoted at USD1.3939 early Thursday, little changed from USD1.3937 at the London equities close Wednesday.
The euro stood at USD1.2045, up slightly from USD1.2034. Against Japanese yen, the dollar was quoted at JPY107.86, lower from JPY108.08.
Brent oil was quoted at USD65.14 a barrel Thursday morning, down from USD65.90 at the London equities close Wednesday. Gold was priced at USD1,790.55 an ounce, lower from USD1,792.76.
Ahead, a European Central Bank rate decision is due at 1245 BST, followed by a press conference with President Christine Lagarde at 1330 BST, though no change to policy is expected.
Also in focus on Thursday will be the latest US jobless claims figures at 1330 BST.
By Arvind Bhunjun; arvindbhunjun@alliancenews.com
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