LONDON MARKET OPEN: Pound Keeps Lid On FTSE 100 As BoE Boosts Support

(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London were in the green early on Thursday, as investors took heart from the Bank of England boosting quantitative easing in the hopes of easing pressure on the UK's Covid-19 hit economy.

The UK central bank on Thursday kept interest rates on hold, as expected, but upped QE by GBP150 billion, a bit more than anticipated, taking its total stock of UK government bond purchases to GBP875 billion.

The pound was quoted at USD1.3015 early on Thursday, improved from USD1.2977 on Wednesday evening.

"Stocks on the FTSE are being supported after the Bank of England announced that it will pump an additional GBP150 billion into the economy as the UK goes into lockdown," said Gain Capital analyst Fiona Cincotta.

She added: "The pound breathed a sigh of relief; early morning rumours had suggested that the BoE was going to cut rates which had sent the pound sharply lower."

The FTSE 100 index of London large-cap stocks was up 8.04 points, or 0.1% at 5,891.30. The blue-chip index had risen as much as 0.6% to 5,916.27 earlier on Thursday morning before giving back some of that gain.

The FTSE 250 rose 54.99 points, or 0.3%, at 17,851.07. The AIM All-Share was up 1.05 points, 0.1%, at 975.79.

The Cboe UK 100 index was up 0.1% at 584.79. The Cboe 250 was up 0.4% at 15,014.49. The Cboe Small Companies lost 0.2% at 9,607.24.

The CAC 40 stock index in Paris rose 0.9% in early trade on Wednesday, and Frankfurt's DAX 30 was up 1.1%.

The euro improved to USD1.1757, from USD1.1710 at the European market close on Wednesday.

The US presidential election remains undecided. Joe Biden has 264 electoral college votes versus Trump's 214, with 270 votes required to win. However, Trump has requested recounts in several states and threatens legal action.

"On paper this was the worst-case scenario, an undecided, contested Presidential election. The reality is that the market couldn't seem happier with the most likely outcome of a Democrat President, and Republican Senate," said Cincotta, adding: "This is because Joe Biden's tax [hikes] are unlikely to be passed by a Republican Senate. Gridlock in Capitol Hill on this occasion could be good news for stocks."

Versus the Japanese yen, the dollar was at JPY104.31, down from JPY104.49 at the London market close on Wednesday.

On the London Stock Exchange, AstraZeneca left annual guidance unchanged after posting a 3% third-quarter revenue hike. Its shares were up 0.2% in early trading.

Revenue in the quarter amounted to USD6.58 billion, taking revenue for the nine-month period to USD19.21 billion, 8% higher annually on a reported basis, or 10% at constant currency.

"We made encouraging headway in the quarter, despite the ongoing disruption from the COVID-19 pandemic. Highlights of the sales performance included further success in Oncology and an acceleration in the progress of Farxiga," Chief Executive Officer Pascal Soriot said.

Looking ahead, annual revenue is still expected to grow by a "high single-digit to a low double-digit percentage" at constant currency.

Peer Hikma rose 1.6%. The pharmaceutical firm hailed "positive momentum in the first half".

Its Injectables unit saw less demand for Covid-19 related products so far in the second half of the year, compared to the first, though it backed the unit to achieve revenue between USD950 million and USD980 million.

Hikma lifted guidance at its Generics arm, however, expecting revenue between USD720 million and USD740 million, up from the previous range of USD710 million and USD730 million.

"Following a strong first half, our Generics business continues to perform well, supported by a better than expected contribution from new launches and strong demand across our differentiated portfolio," Hikma explained.

Supermarket chain Sainsbury's sat towards the bottom of the FTSE 100, down 2.8%. It sunk to a GBP137 million interim pretax loss, from a GBP9 million profit a year earlier. The company was hit by a bruising GBP438 million in one-off costs.

Group sales, excluding VAT but including fuel, inched 1.1% lower to GBP14.93 billion from GGBP15.10 billion. Like-for-like sales excluding fuel jumped 6.9% annually, however.

"Sales during the first half were stronger than the base case assumptions we outlined in April, particularly at Argos, driving a strong underlying profit increase against a soft comparative base," the company said.

Commenting on the lockdown that has gone into effect on Thursday in England, which doesn't close grocery stores and limits competition from restaurants, Sainsbury's said: "We cannot fully predict the impact of COVID-19 and lockdown restrictions on retail sales and costs for the remainder of the second half of the year, but our current assumptions would result in full year group underlying profit before tax increasing by at least 5% year-on-year."

Looking further ahead, the company said it will close around 420 Argos standalone stores, reducing the standalone estate to just 100 by March 2024. However, it will open 150 more Argos stores in Sainsbury's supermarkets by the target date, as well as 150 to 200 more Argos collection points in supermarkets and convenience stores.

Sainsbury confirmed that as part of its cost-cutting plans, "around 3,500" jobs could be lost. This is higher than the 3,000 job cuts reported by UK media outlets ahead of Thursday's results announcement. "We will do everything possible to find alternative roles for our colleagues," Sainsbury's said.

Elsewhere among the blue-chips, Homeserve was up 4.7%, the best performer, after Credit Suisse resumed coverage of the emergency home repairs business with an Outperform rating.

Away from the large-caps, N Brown shares dropped 6.3%. The retailer's revenue fell 18% to GBP356.7 million, and its pretax profit dropped by a quarter to GBP14.1 million in the six months ended August 31, a period hit by Covid-19 lockdowns.

With more curbs to come in England, N Brown said it will bolster its coffers through a GBP100 million placing and open offer.

The company also plans to delist from the London Main Market and move to the junior AIM market.

N Brown said AIM is a more "appropriate environment" and better suited for a company of its size.

Gold was quoted at USD1,918.02 early on Thursday in London, up from USD1,901.50 late Wednesday.

A barrel of Brent fetched USD40.86, up from USD40.62.

The economic calendar on Thursday has a UK Markit construction PMI at 0930 GMT. Eurozone retail sales are due at 1000 GMT and the weekly US initial jobless claims are out at 1330 GMT.

In the US, the Federal Open Market Committee will conclude its two-day policy meeting on Thursday and announce its decision at 1900 GMT. This will be followed by a press conference with Fed Chair Jerome Powell at 1930 GMT.

By Eric Cunha; ericcunha@alliancenews.com

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