Last checked at 
(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London opened higher on Wednesday, as market sentiment continued to be lifted by Tuesday's weak US data which is driving up hopes that interest rates have peaked.
The FTSE 100 was boosted by some strong earnings from insurer Prudential, whilst AIM's Instem soared after it recommended a GBP200 million takeover offer.
The FTSE 100 index opened up 29.99 points, 0.4%, at 7,494.98. The FTSE 250 was up 82.94 points, 0.5%, at 18,551.53, and the AIM All-Share was up 0.83 of a point, 0.1%, at 742.04.
The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.4% at 747.01, the Cboe UK 250 was up 0.4% at 16,234.31, and the Cboe Small Companies was up 0.1% at 13,434.04.
The number of home sales taking place across the UK this year is on track to be around a fifth, 21%, lower than in 2022, according to property website Zoopla.
About one million sales could be completed in 2023, which would be the lowest total since 2012 and equate to the average household moving just once every 23 years, Zoopla said.
The website made its predictions based on house sales in the first half of this year.
With mortgage costs having increased sharply, the number of house sales with a mortgage is expected to plunge by nearly a third, 28%, this year, compared with 2022.
The Bank of England will release the latest data on mortgage approvals and net lending for July on Wednesday morning.
Despite of the news, housebuilders were up. Persimmon rose 1.8%, Taylor Wimpey up 1.6%, and Barratt Developments up 0.7%. On Tuesday, the stocks closed up 5.0%, 3.8%, and 4.1%, respectively.
The stocks got a boost on Tuesday, following news that the UK government intends to scrap some EU-era regulations on waterway pollution in a bid to increase housebuilding in England.
In the US on Tuesday, Wall Street ended higher, further fuelled by weak US data which is driving up hopes that interest rates have peaked. The Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.9%, the S&P 500 up 1.5% and the Nasdaq Composite up 1.7%.
Data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics showed there were 8.827 million job vacancies in July, down from 9.165 million in June, and below a FXStreet-cited consensus of 9.465 million.
It is the smallest number of openings since March 2021.
"The weak data pushed the Federal Reserve (Fed) hawks to the sidelines, and bolstered the expectation of a pause in September, and tilted the probabilities in favour of a no hike in November, as well," said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Bank.
On Friday, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said that the US central bank was "prepared" to raise interest rates further in order to get inflation "sustainably" down to its 2% target.
Markets now see an 87% chance of the Fed holding rates steady at its next meeting in September, according to the CME Fed Watch Tool. On Tuesday, markets saw a 78% chance of this outcome. Further, for its November meeting, the expectations of a hold jumped to 51% from 38% on Tuesday.
The data starts a week of updates on the jobs market with ADP private payrolls figures on Wednesday, weekly jobless claims data on Thursday and non-farm payrolls on Friday.
The dollar was mixed in early exchanges in Europe.
The pound was quoted at USD1.2625 early on Wednesday in London, higher compared to USD1.2616 at the equities close on Tuesday. The euro stood at USD1.0861, up against USD1.0845. Against the yen, the dollar was trading at JPY146.47, higher compared to JPY146.04.
In the FTSE 100 index, Prudential was the best performer in early trade, up 3.9%.
The London-based, Asia-focused insurer swung to a pretax profit of USD1.18 billion, swung from a loss of USD1.35 billion a year ago. It reported insurance revenue of USD4.59 billion in the first half of 2023, up from USD4.16 billion year-on-year.
Prudential declared an interim dividend of 6.26 cents per share, up 9% annually.
Looking ahead, Prudential expects to grow new business profit at 15% to 20% compound annual growth between 2022 and 2027.
Commenting on his first interim results, Chief Executive Officer Anil Wadhwani said: "The interim results demonstrate the power of our multi-engine, multi-channel business model across Asia and Africa."
In the FTSE 250 index, Direct Line was up 2.2%.
Direct Line has appointed Adam Winslow as its new chief executive officer.
It is expected that he will take up the role of Direct Line CEO in the first quarter of 2024 succeeding Jon Greenwood who has been acting CEO since January. The Bromley, England-based motor and home insurer said Greenwood will work with Winslow when he picks up the role, to ensure a smooth handover and transition.
Since May 2021, Winslow has led Aviva's UK & Ireland general insurance business developing a "clear strategy for both personal and commercial lines which has delivered market share expansion and improved profitability".
On London's AIM, Instem was up 40% to 826.00p, after it said it has agreed to a private equity takeover offer that values the life sciences IT company at just above GBP200 million.
Specialist healthcare industry investor Archimed SAS has offered 833 pence in cash per Instem share, valuing the entire company at GBP203 million. The prices is a 41% premium to Instem's close on AIM in London on Tuesday of 590p.
Archimed has offices in New York, Singapore and Lyon, France. It has more than EUR8 billion in assets under management.
Instem said the takeover will allow it to take advantage of Archimed's industry knowledge and network as a healthcare specialist investor.
In European equities on Wednesday, the CAC 40 in Paris was up 0.1%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt was down marginally.
In Asia on Wednesday, the Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo closed up 0.3%. In China, the Shanghai Composite closed up marginally, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was down 0.1% in late trade. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney closed up 1.2%.
Brent oil was quoted at USD85.23 a barrel early in London on Wednesday, up from USD84.24 late Tuesday. Gold was quoted at USD1,935.12 an ounce, lower against USD1,936.07.
Still to come on Wednesday's economic calendar, there is a EU economic sentiment indicator at 1000 BST.
By Sophie Rose, Alliance News reporter
Comments and questions to newsroom@alliancenews.com
Copyright 2023 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
