London open: Stocks nudge up as investors eye Jackson Hole

(Sharecast News) - London stocks nudged higher in early trade on Wednesday amid a lack of catalysts, with all eyes on Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell's speech at the Jackson Hole symposium at the end of the week.
At 0845 BST, the FTSE 100 was up 0.2% at 7,137.36.

CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson said: "While it's not surprising that the focus is very much on Fed chair Jay Powell's speech and a possible framework for a tapering of asset purchases by the end of the year, recent events could well see this pushed out to the September Fed meeting.

"The last-minute decision to hold this week's meeting virtually appears to be a tacit admission by the Federal Reserve that the surge in the delta variant is still a clear and present danger to the US recovery, and while cases may well be starting to top out now, that may well reverse when the schools go back next month."

Hewson said this week's rebound in stocks has been largely predicated on last week's shift in tone by Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan, in suggesting he could shift his position on a taper if the economic data deteriorated, "a not unreasonable position to take".

In equity markets, Rank Group rallied after the bingo hall and casino operator said UK tax authorities have decided not to appeal against a tribunal ruling over value added tax on slot machines.

Rank said the first-tier tribunal had agreed a 60-day extension to allow Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and Rank to agree the exact size of the claim, with the gambling firm still expecting to receive around £80m.

Elsewhere, building materials group Grafton gained as it reported record profits and reinstated its dividend following a strong performance from its Woodies business in Ireland.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,137.36 0.16%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 23,958.72 0.30%
techMARK (TASX) 4,827.88 0.32%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Weir Group (WEIR) 1,688.00p 2.58%
British Land Company (BLND) 531.20p 2.08%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 120.00p 1.45%
Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 1,374.00p 1.40%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 2,017.00p 1.26%
BHP Group (BHP) 2,263.50p 1.23%
Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,424.00p 1.21%
B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 575.40p 0.98%
Just Eat Takeaway.Com N.V. (CDI) (JET) 6,999.00p 0.86%
Entain (ENT) 1,887.00p 0.83%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 319.90p -1.11%
Smith (DS) (SMDS) 437.80p -0.84%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 5,365.00p -0.83%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 1,064.00p -0.75%
Severn Trent (SVT) 2,812.00p -0.71%
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 3,009.00p -0.69%
Fresnillo (FRES) 839.60p -0.69%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,461.00p -0.68%
WPP (WPP) 975.80p -0.63%
Anglo American (AAL) 2,975.00p -0.55%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Cineworld Group (CINE) 68.00p 2.72%
Virgin Money UK (VMUK) 207.80p 2.21%
Reach (RCH) 400.50p 1.91%
Wood Group (John) (WG.) 237.40p 1.84%
Micro Focus International (MCRO) 437.60p 1.70%
Grafton Group Ut (CDI) (GFTU) 1,331.00p 1.68%
888 Holdings (888) 413.80p 1.67%
Redrow (RDW) 703.40p 1.62%
Helios Towers (HTWS) 168.80p 1.56%
Hiscox Limited (DI) (HSX) 941.20p 1.55%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Petropavlovsk (POG) 20.28p -2.22%
Harbour Energy (HBR) 359.40p -1.91%
Genuit Group (GEN) 764.00p -1.67%
Baillie Gifford US Growth Trust (USA) 341.50p -1.30%
Pantheon International (PIN) 2,710.00p -1.28%
Indivior (INDV) 190.30p -1.25%
HGCapital Trust (HGT) 400.00p -0.99%
The Renewables Infrastructure Group Limited (TRIG) 128.20p -0.93%
JPMorgan Emerging Markets Inv Trust (JMG) 131.00p -0.91%
Sirius Real Estate Ltd. (SRE) 121.40p -0.82%