UK stocks opened unchanged despite strong gains overnight in US tech stocks such as Amazon, up 4.75% ahead of its Prime Day campaign, and Apple up 6.3% ahead of its 5G iPhone launch, as the Nasdaq 100 index posted its best daily performance since April, gaining over 4%.
Later in the US session futures slipped back on news that Johnson & Johnson’s Covid vaccine study had been paused due to an unexplained illness in a participant.
At 8.30am the FTSE 100 was down 34 points to 5,967 with gains in utilities and supermarkets more than offset by falls in basic material and financial stocks.
Sterling held steady at $1.30, while Brent crude oil futures edged up to $41.90 per barrel and gold dipped 0.5% to $1,915 per ounce as the dollar strengthened.
NEWSFLOW MOSTLY POSITIVE
Utility group SSE (SSE) announced it had reached a deal to sell its 50% interest in two energy-from-waste ventures to a European infrastructure fund for £995 million in cash. The group sees the deal completing by year-end subject to EU approval. Shares topped the FTSE leader board with a gain of 4.7% to £13.88 in early trading.
In smaller company news, motor insurer Sabre (SBRE) reported a 9% drop in gross written premiums to £139.2 million in the nine months to September and said it expected a similar fall for the full year.
It also forecast a combined ratio close to its long-term target in the mid-70%s and hinted that thanks to its strong solvency coverage ratio of 186%, which is well above its target of 140% to 160%, it would pay ‘an attractive full year dividend’. The response was fairly muted, with shares adding just 1.3% to 256p.
Meanwhile, insurance investor BP Marsh (BPM:AIM) posted close to a 10% rise in net asset value to £142.6 million or 396.2p per share in the six months to July. The total shareholder return for the period was 4.8% including the July dividend.
The firm continues to invest, subscribing for a 30% cumulative preferred share holding in US specialist insurer SAGE as well as taking a further 15% stake in EC3 Brokers, taking its holding to 35% through a £1.5 million injection of capital. Shares jumped 28p or 12% to 263p.
Car dealer Marshall Motor Holdings (MMH:AIM) pleased the market by raising its full year pre-tax profit guidance to £15 million from breakeven thanks to ‘further strong current trading’ in the third quarter.
Performance was strong across all key like-for-like new vehicle sales metrics with third quarter registrations up 16% against a 4.1% rise for the industry, according to the Society of Motor manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). Trading in September was better still, with new car like-for-like sales up 19.1% against a 1.1% fall for the sector. Shares accelerated 8.8% to a six-month high of 130p.
Agent-owned property portal OnTheMarket (OTMP:AIM) posted a 28% rise in first half turnover to £10.2 million and an operating profit of £0.7 million compared with a prior-year loss of £7.2 million as the number of agents using its service and the average revenue per agent rose.
The firm also reduced its marketing spend by £4.4 million or two thirds to reduce costs and conserve cash, leaving it with a healthy £9.8 million of cash on hand. Shares climbed 6% to a 12-month high of 107.5p.
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