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London open: Stocks flat ahead of US inflation; Barratt Redrow surges
London stocks were flat in early trade on Wednesday as investors eyed the latest US inflation reading.
At 0830 GMT, the FTSE 100 was steady at 8,780.90.
Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “There’s an overarching sense of calm in the air, perhaps a little unnerving given the storm of political drama we’ve become accustomed too since Tump took office.
“The FTSE 100 opened flat this morning, and after posting another record high yesterday it’s still riding on a wave of enthusiasm. US inflation data has scope to upset the apple card later today, but for now at least, it’s robust company earnings that are driving markets forward.”
The US consumer price index for January is due at 1330 GMT.
In equity markets, housebuilder Barratt Redrow surged to the top of the FTSE 100 after saying full-year earnings were set to be at the upper end of expectations following a jump in interim profits.
The company posted pre-tax profit of £117.2m, up 23% and lifted its dividend by a quarter to 5.5p a share.
Consensus estimates are for 2025 adjusted pre-tax profit of £542m, with a range of £506m to £588m.
Indivior gained even as it said the US Food and Drug Administration has delayed its final review of proposed label changes for Sublocade, which include a rapid initiation protocol and alternative injection sites.
The company said the regulator had accepted the proposed label and identified no outstanding issues, but did not provide a new timeline for approval.
Elsewhere, Close Brothers fell as the merchant bank said it has put aside £165m to cover costs associated with the mis-selling of motor finance following last year’s Court of Appeal judgment.
The provision, which includes estimates for operational and legal costs, as well as the potential remediation for affected customers, will reduce the company’s CET1 capital ratio to 12.0% from 13.5% on 31 December. Close Brothers said the hit would be recognised in its second-half results.
However, Close Brothers said that recent actions to improve its capital position will mitigate the impact.
Top 10 FTSE 100 Risers
| Sponsored by Plus500 |
|
| # | Name | Change Pct | Change | Cur Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  |
Barratt Redrow Plc | +7.69% | +33.60 | 470.60 |
| 2 |  |
Prudential Plc | +2.26% | +15.40 | 698.00 |
| 3 |  |
Schroders Plc | +1.96% | +7.40 | 384.00 |
| 4 |  |
Vodafone Group Plc | +1.76% | +1.20 | 69.42 |
| 5 |  |
Flutter Entertainment Plc | +1.73% | +370.00 | 21,710.00 |
| 6 |  |
Rio Tinto Plc | +1.39% | +69.00 | 5,023.00 |
| 7 |  |
Coca-cola Hbc Ag | +1.29% | +38.00 | 2,978.00 |
| 8 |  |
Banco Santander S.a. | +1.28% | +6.00 | 473.50 |
| 9 |  |
Lloyds Banking Group Plc | +1.15% | +0.72 | 63.52 |
| 10 |  |
Bt Group Plc | +1.13% | +1.70 | 152.20 |
Top 10 FTSE 100 Fallers
| Sponsored by Plus500 |
|
| # | Name | Change Pct | Change | Cur Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  |
Aib Group Plc | -2.55% | -13.00 | 497.00 |
| 2 |  |
Bp Plc | -1.41% | -6.50 | 455.75 |
| 3 |  |
Smurfit Westrock Plc | -0.97% | -42.00 | 4,267.00 |
| 4 |  |
Reckitt Benckiser Group Plc | -0.92% | -48.00 | 5,164.00 |
| 5 |  |
Bae Systems Plc | -0.91% | -11.00 | 1,194.00 |
| 6 |  |
Wise Plc | -0.75% | -8.00 | 1,064.00 |
| 7 |  |
Shell Plc | -0.72% | -19.50 | 2,680.00 |
| 8 |  |
St. James’s Place Plc | -0.72% | -8.00 | 1,109.00 |
| 9 |  |
Rolls-royce | -0.71% | -4.40 | 615.60 |
| 10 |  |
Imperial Brands Plc | -0.70% | -20.00 | 2,857.00 |
US close: Markets mixed as investors weigh Powell comments, tariff uncertainty
Wall Street equity markets closed in a mixed fashion on Tuesday as investors continued to digest the impact of new US tariffs on the global economy as well as comments from the head of the Federal Reserve.
“It’s been a more subdued day for markets as investors waited to hear from Fed chair Jerome Powell,” said Danni Hewson, head of financial analysis at AJ Bell. “In the end he maintained his carefully balanced ‘wait and see’ stance, stopping short of addressing the issue of tariffs”.
The Dow rose 0.3% to 44,593.65, the S&P 500 finished flat at 6,068.50, while the Nasdaq fell 0.4% to 19,643.86.
The continued news of new tariffs from the White House continues to weigh heavily on risk appetite, after Donald Trump at the weekend raised import duties on steel and aluminium, with both levies set to come into effect on 4 March.
Meanwhile, Powell’s Congress testimony was also making headlines after the central bank head left the door open for more interest rate cuts but said the Fed was in no hurry to act.
Powell struck an upbeat tone on the economy, calling it “strong overall” with a “solid” job market and also noted that the labour market condition had cooled and was “not a source of significant inflationary pressures”.
The Fed chair also acknowledged that inflation has “moved much closer” to its 2% longer-run goal but “remains somewhat elevated”. He also noted the Fed was not considering changing its 2% PCE inflation target in its policy framework review.
“There’s no chance central bankers aren’t considering the potential inflationary spike that could result from Donald Trump’s global trade policies,” Hewson said. “Just like everyone else, central bankers will be acutely aware of the difficulties in plotting a course when the map keeps being redrawn.”
In economic news, optimism among US small businesses retreated from a six-year high in January, with uncertainty on the rise, according to the National Federation of Independent Business. The NFIB’s monthly Small Business Optimism Index came in at 102.8 last month, down from 105.1 in December, which was the highest mark since late-2018. The consensus forecast was for a reading closer to 104.6. Nevertheless, January was the third straight month of a print above the 51-year average of i98.
Market movers
Shares in Phillips 66 rose strongly after Activist Elliott Investment Management reportedly built a more than $2.5bn stake in the energy company and plans to push the oil refiner to consider operational changes to boost its stagnant stock.
Tesla‘s share price dropped nearly 7% to finish at its lowest level since mid-November after a consortium led by its billionaire founder Elon Musk put forward a $97.4bn bid to purchase the non-profit organisation that controls artificial intelligence startup OpenAI. .
Cereal manufacturer WK Kellogg finished flat after delivering a mixed set of quarterly results as sales fell short of forecasts but profits smashed estimates.
Meanwhile, Coca-Cola was rising strongly after fourth-quarter sales and profits from the soft drinks giant beat market forecasts on the back of improvements in pricing and volume growth.
Wednesday newspaper round-up: British economy, Heathrow, FOS
The British economy is on course to expand by 1.5% this year after the budget gave a boost to public spending but could be blown off course if Donald Trump goes ahead with threatened tariffs, a leading economic thinktank has warned. In a boost to Rachel Reeves after a bruising month of negative economic figures, the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) upped its annual growth prediction from 1.2% to 1.5%. – Guardian
Heathrow will submit third runway proposals to the government this summer, pledging to use UK steel and boost growth, the airport has confirmed. Its chief executive, Thomas Woldbye, will formally spell out plans for a third runway to follow a multibillion-pound upgrade of the London airport’s existing terminals and facilities, in a speech at the British Steel plant in Scunthorpe on Wednesday. – Guardian
Britain is at risk of a £24bn blow to the economy should Donald Trump forge ahead with “reciprocal tariffs”, analysts have warned. The UK is facing the prospect of 21pc tariffs on goods exports to the US if the president imposes duties on Britain based on VAT charges, Deutsche Bank has warned. Tariffs of this scale would knock 0.4 percentage points off UK GDP growth for the next two years, according to Ahmet Kaya, of the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (Niesr), accounting for $30bn (£24bn). – Telegraph
The departing chairwoman of the Financial Ombudsman Service was reminded of rules governing contempt of parliament as she was accused of refusing to answer MPs’ questions about the sudden departure of the organisation’s chief executive last week. Baroness Manzoor was told that it was a “contempt of parliament not to” answer questions as she declined to explain why Abby Thomas, chief ombudsman and chief executive, had unexpectedly left the dispute resolution service with immediate effect. – The Times
Company bosses have become much more confident about the UK economy over the last quarter, with a large majority expecting profits to rise in the coming year. According to researchers at EY-Parthenon, 82 per cent of chief executives felt optimistic about the business landscape over the next 12 months, up sharply from 67 per cent in September. – The Times
