The London market opened slightly lower at the start of another significant week for company earnings and central bank decisions.
The FTSE 100 was down 19.52 points, or 0.3%, at 7,256.85 early Monday. The FTSE 250 index was down 101.85 points, or 0.5%, at 19,722.95. The AIM All-Share index was down 2.33 points, or 0.3%, at 902.76.
The Cboe UK 100 index was down 0.4% at 723.47. The Cboe 250 was down 0.4% at 17,207.12. The Cboe Small Companies was up 0.1% at 13,606.61.
In mainland Europe, the CAC 40 stock index in Paris was down 0.4%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt was 0.5% lower.
After policy announcements by the European Central Bank and Bank of Japan last week, the US Federal Reserve weighs in at the end of a two-policy meeting this Wednesday. The Bank of England follows on Thursday next week.
Meanwhile, earnings season continues in earnest this week.
Among London listings, drugmaker GSK, Lloyds Banking, miner Rio Tinto and British American Tobacco report interim results on Wednesday. On Thursday, there are half-year results from defence contractor BAE Systems, lender Barclays, fund manager Schroders and oil major Shell. On Friday, drugmaker AstraZeneca and British Airways-parent IAG report interim results.
In the US, tech earnings season reaches its peak with updates from Alphabet and Microsoft on Tuesday, Meta Platforms on Wednesday, and Apple on Thursday.
The US central bank is widely expected to hike borrowing costs by 75 basis points. Investors will be poring over policymakers' views on the outlook for the world's biggest economy, as Fed officials try to rein in inflation while sustaining growth.
‘We don't think Fed week will be as tumultuous as ECB week, as the scope for surprises in Washington appears much lower and markets have made a strong conviction call on a 75bp hike,’ commented economists at ING.
In the FTSE 100, Airtel Africa was up 1.3% after the Africa-focused telecommunications firm's subsidiary Airtel Kenya Networks bought 60 megahertz of additional spectrum in Kenya for $40 million. Kenya is one of Airtel's largest markets by revenue.
Conversely, Haleon was down 2.3% after Jefferies started coverage on the GSK consumer healthcare spin-off with a 'hold' rating.
In the FTSE 250, Vesuvius was the best performer, up 7.5%, after the molten metal flow engineer Vesuvius said trading for the months of May and June were stronger than anticipated.
As such, Vesuvius expects to report a trading profit for the first half of 2022 of £127.4 million. This would be sharply higher than the £73.3 million reported a year before.
The company said its outperformance in the first half was due to the successful implementation of pricing strategy to recover input costs as well as market share gains, supported by ‘technological differentiation’.
Looking ahead, Vesuvius now expects its full-year trading profit to be towards the top end of the range of current analysts' expectations of £155 million and £199 million. This compares to £142.4 million in 2021.
Ferrexpo was up 6.1% after Credit Suisse raised the iron ore pellet producer to 'outperform' from 'neutral'.
Premier Foods was up 2.5% after the Kipling cakes owner agreed to acquire Indian and South East Asian meal kit brand Spice Tailor for an initial £43.8 million on a cash free and debt free basis. Premier Foods said Spice Tailor is expected to generate revenue of £17.3 million in financial 2023.
The dollar was higher across the board. The pound was quoted at $1.1991 early Monday, down from $1.2028 at the London equities close Friday.
The euro was priced at $1.0210, down from $1.0223. Against the yen, the dollar was trading at JP¥136.31, up from JP¥136.11.
Brent oil was quoted at $102.11 a barrel on Monday morning, down from $104.74 at the close Friday. Gold stood at $1,727.21 an ounce, lower against $1,731.12.
The economic events calendar on Monday has a Germany Ifo business climate index print at 0900 BST.
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