London open: Stocks mostly higher as stimulus hopes rekindled

(Sharecast News) - Stocks were mixed in early trading with 'market chatter' that in private Brexit negotiators from both sides saw room for a deal propping up the pound.
However, renewed hopes that fiscal stimulus was in the pipeline Stateside was buoying investor sentiment and risk appetite globally, as reflected in London's second-tier index.

Enter Neil Wilson from Markets.com, who told clients: "The yo-yo week on Wall Street continues with stocks bouncing after Donald Trump tweeted support for a range of fiscal stimulus measures, having earlier set the market down by calling off talks on a comprehensive package until after the election.

"Whether it's now or after November, what's been made clear to investors is that fiscal stimulus is on its way. The timing becomes less important - doubts would resurface if there is a contested election result that leaves Washington lawmakers unable to come to a deal. However, Joe Biden's lead in the polls would suggest this is becoming less likely, albeit my inclination is that Trump will do a lot better than the polls indicate."

As of 0931 BST, the FTSE 100 was off by roughly 0.1% at 5,941.82, having hit 5,970.35 shortly after the start of trading on Thursday.

Things were rosier out on the second-tier index however, with the FTSE 250 ahead by 0.48% to 17,886.99 and still near its best levels of the session.

The pound meanwhile was up by 0.33% to 1.2961.

On the economic front, investors were waiting on the release of the minutes of the European Central Bank's last rate-setting meeting, at 1230 BST.

They were especially keen for further hints as to the monetary authority's plans for possible tweaks to its policy framework.

Also due out, at 1330 BST, were the latest weekly jobless claims figures in the US with investors keeping close tabs on the health of the country's jobs market, especially given the recent hurdles encountered by lawmakers on Capitol Hill in their attempts to clinch a new stimulus deal.

Dealmakers in scant need of new stimulus

TalkTalk is in discussions to be taken private by Toscafund Asset Management after the investment firm approached it about a cash offer valuing the company at £1.12bn. Toscafund's 97p a share proposal values the shares at 16.4% more than Wednesday's closing price. It contains a number of conditions including that Charles Dunstone, TalkTalk's founder and executive chairman, supports the deal and agrees to "an election for any unlisted share alternative" for his shares in the company.

Hargreaves Lansdown said it made a good start to the financial year as it reported £0.8bn of net new business and revenue up 12% in the first quarter. Revenue rose to £143.7m from £128.1m in the three months to the end of September. Net new business was down from £1.7bn the year before but the FTSE 100 company said the year-earlier period was boosted by £0.9bn of back book transfers.

CMC Markets upgraded its guidance for annual revenue after trading revenue more than doubled to a record in the first half. The online trading platform said net trading revenue rose to about £200m in the six months to the end of September from £85m a year earlier. Client income retention was "well in excess" of previous guidance for more than 80%.

EasyJet reported a 50% fall in passenger numbers for its full year on Thursday, to 48 million, in line with a decrease in capacity of 48% to 55 million seats. The FTSE 250 low-cost airline said in a trading update that load factor for the year ended 30 September was down 4.3 percentage points at 87.2%. Capacity in the fourth quarter was 38% of its previously-planned levels, with easyJet flying nine million passengers during the period with a load factor of 76.3%.

Tobacco company Imperial Brands said it expected full-year earnings to be 6% lower as it made higher provisions for stock and bad debts, citing ongoing Covid-19 uncertainties. The firm, which makes Peter Stuyvesant and John Player cigarettes, said revenue would be flat on a constant currency basis as better-than-expected tobacco sales offset a slump in new generation products and lower duty-free sales due to the collapse in international travel caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Medical technology company Smith & Nephew announced on Thursday that it is expecting a third quarter underlying revenue decline of about 4%. The FTSE 100 company said all three of its franchises showed "significant" recovery, following an overall underlying revenue decline of 29.3% for the second quarter. It said the improvement was strongest in its orthopaedics franchise, as global levels of elective surgery continued to recover.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 5,943.80 -0.04%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 17,897.89 0.54%
techMARK (TASX) 3,832.70 0.38%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 166.80p 6.48%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 103.35p 6.00%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 120.65p 3.74%
GVC Holdings (GVC) 1,088.00p 3.47%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 540.20p 2.90%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 559.60p 2.81%
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 801.40p 2.72%
Vodafone Group (VOD) 111.44p 2.09%
BT Group (BT.A) 104.95p 2.04%
British Land Company (BLND) 367.40p 2.03%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 1,502.50p -5.38%
Mondi (MNDI) 1,642.00p -2.44%
Smith (DS) (SMDS) 302.10p -2.30%
Pennon Group (PNN) 999.60p -2.00%
Smurfit Kappa Group (SKG) 3,112.00p -1.95%
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 2,403.00p -1.88%
Pearson (PSON) 544.80p -1.63%
Spirax-Sarco Engineering (SPX) 10,960.00p -1.44%
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,270.00p -1.36%
Relx plc (REL) 1,654.00p -1.31%

FTSE 250 - Risers

TalkTalk Telecom Group (TALK) 97.15p 16.63%
Crest Nicholson Holdings (CRST) 235.60p 6.51%
Caledonia Investments (CLDN) 2,620.00p 5.22%
Aggreko (AGK) 416.40p 4.52%
Network International Holdings (NETW) 290.60p 4.46%
Redrow (RDW) 447.60p 4.19%
Babcock International Group (BAB) 275.80p 3.53%
Travis Perkins (TPK) 1,215.50p 3.27%
Electrocomponents (ECM) 747.00p 3.25%
FirstGroup (FGP) 47.44p 3.13%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Cairn Energy (CNE) 144.00p -3.68%
CMC Markets (CMCX) 353.00p -3.16%
Drax Group (DRX) 281.20p -2.09%
easyJet (EZJ) 513.80p -1.83%
Vesuvius (VSVS) 415.40p -1.70%
Rotork (ROR) 289.20p -1.70%
Clarkson (CKN) 2,335.00p -1.68%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 153.70p -1.66%
Hilton Food Group (HFG) 1,200.00p -1.48%
Oxford Instruments (OXIG) 1,614.00p -1.47%