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London open: Stocks edge lower but Melrose rallies on results
London stocks edged lower in early trade on Thursday, taking their cue from a mostly downbeat US session as investors continue to eye global trade developments.
At 0830 BST, the FTSE 100 was down 0.2% to 7,368.38, around lows not seen since April.
The pound was up 0.1% against the dollar and the euro at 1.2915 and 1.1101, respectively, holding its head above water following a report on Wednesday that Germany was prepared to make compromises on the Brexit deal. Bloomberg said Germany has ditched a demand that the future relationship should be set out in detail alongside the separation.
Meanwhile, trade talks between the US and Canada resumed on Wednesday after the two failed to reach an agreement last week. US President Trump described the NAFTA talks as “intense” and accused Canada of “taking advantage”, while Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a radio interview that he would insist on certain safeguards as Trump doesn’t always follow the rules.
Still, after a day of talks with US trade negotiator Robert Lightizer, Canadian foreign minister Chrystia Freeland said progress was being made.
US relations with China were also still very much in focus, with Trump expected to slap 25% tariffs on another $200bn of Chinese goods this week.
CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson said: “A big jump in the US trade deficit to $50.1bn appears to have convinced markets that the prospect of further tariffs is almost inevitable, given that the gap with China hit yet another record high. The deficit with the EU also rose to a record high, which suggests that it won’t be long before President Trump starts banging that drum again.”
Among individual shares, miners were among the big fallers, led by BHP Billiton, Glencore and Antofagasta. Things were also starting to get busier on the UK corporate reporting front.
BCA Marketplace slipped even as it hailed a strong start to the year, while Genus tumbled as its full-year revenue missed forecasts.
Sirius Minerals tanked more than 20% after revising its capital expenditure estimate up 13.5% from $3.7bn to $4.2bn, which is expected to result in its stage-two funding requirement increasing by $400-600m.
Wood Group fell despite saying that Hess Corporation has awarded the company a three-year non-exclusive agreement for the provision of operations, maintenance and other support services in the Gulf of Mexico.
Bucking the trend was Melrose Industries, rising to the top spot after saying it found “no black holes” in the GKN business and progress since its £8bn hostile takeover was completed. The turnaround specialist also reported a statutory loss before tax of £303m for the half year after booking significant acquisition-related charges but only including 73 days of trading from GKN.
Bovis Homes advanced after it posted a 41% jump in first-half pre-tax profit as completions rose and the housebuilder said it was targeting a record year of profits, at the top end of its expectations.
Go-Ahead Group surged after the transport operator’s full-year results came in ahead of consensus expectations at the operating profit level.
McCarthy & Stone was on the front foot even as the retirement housebuilder downgraded its operating profit guidance for the year following a “tough” year but posted a rise in revenue.
Retailer Dixons Carphone was in the green as it reported a 2% revenue drop for the first quarter and a flat like-for-like performance but maintained its full-year guidance.
Just Group rallied as its first-half results came in ahead of expectations on most metrics, but the company said it has deferred its interim dividend as the outcome of the lifetime mortgage review remains unknown.
Bakkavor gained as the fresh prepared food provider announced the acquisition of Haydens Bakery from Real Good Food for £12m.
In broker note action, Liberum downgraded Bodycote to ‘hold’ and IMI to ‘sell’. It also initiated coverage of Smiths at ‘hold’, while Vodafone was lifted to ‘buy’ at Citi.
Shire, RSA Insurance, Land Securities, Glencore, CRH, BHP Billiton, Antofagasta, Admiral Group, Savills, Rathbone Brothers, Polymetal, Pagegroup, Meggitt, Kaz Minerals, John Laing Infrastructure, IWG, Greggs, G4S, ConvaTec, Clarkson and Aggreko all went ex-dividend.
