Stock prices in London were mostly in the green at Thursday midday, as US producer price inflation will soon be released amid weekly jobless figures, as investors await further updates on who will be part of Donald Trump’s second administration.
‘The FTSE 100 ticked higher in early trading on Thursday despite weakness in the US and Asia overnight as American inflation edged higher,’ commented AJ Bell’s Russ Mould. ‘While the [US] consumer prices reading wasn’t alarmingly high, it helped to stoke strong performance for the dollar again.’
Mould also noted ongoing ‘gloom around European companies engendered by the election of a potentially protectionist new Trump administration’.
The FTSE 100 index was up 32.34 points, 0.4%, at 8,062.57. The FTSE 250 was up 84.55 points, 0.4%, at 20,443.76, and the AIM All-Share was up 0.44 points, 0.1%, at 729.73.
The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.4% at 810.62, the Cboe UK 250 was up 0.4% at 17,869.98, and the Cboe Small Companies was down 0.4% at 15,847.56.
3i Group was the FTSE 100’s second-highest stock, rising 4.7% and close behind Spirax.
The private equity and venture capital company said diluted net asset value per share improved 20% to 2,261 pence as at September 30, while operating profit jumped 22%.
Moreover, 3i proposed an interim dividend of 30.5p, up 15% on-year, and said it has a good pipeline of ‘high-quality realisations’ for the next 12 months.
Burberry was still the FTSE 250’s biggest winner, surging 17%, while Keller led the laggers with a 14% drop.
‘Burberry was in need of a reset after a very difficult time for the business and the market seems to like the strategy update delivered today by new CEO Joshua Schulman,’ AJ Bell’s Mould commented. ‘Unsurprisingly Schulman is pulling the cost cutting lever but he has also made new hires in marketing and merchandising and it looks like there will be a greater emphasis on outerwear – an area of traditional strength which presumably could yield higher margin sales.’
WH Smith was among the laggers, losing 3.6%.
The retailer said full-year pretax profit was £106 million post-IFRS 16, falling 3.7% annually, but revenue grew 7.0% to £1.92 billion. It also proposed a final dividend of 22.6 pence, up 8.3% year-on-year and giving a total dividend of 33.6p per share.
‘Selling travel essentials to captive audiences at airports and rail stations has been a highly lucrative activity for WH Smith...but today’s numbers are a reminder the company is not immune to a bit of turbulence along the way,’ Mould warned.
Elsewhere, Young & Co’s gained 3.1%.
The brewer reported a 3.3% annual increase in pretax profit to £25.3 million, and revenue surged 27% to £250.0 million. It also lifted the interim dividend by 6.0% to 11.53 pence per share.
However, it noted increased near-term costs resulting from the government’s budget in October.
In European equities on Thursday, the CAC 40 in Paris was up 1.0%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt was up 1.2%.
The pound was quoted at $1.2653 at midday on Thursday in London, lower compared to $1.2714 at the equities close on Wednesday. The euro stood lower at $1.0518, against $1.0568. Against the yen, the dollar was trading up at JP¥155.99 compared to JP¥155.24.
Stocks in New York were called higher, having closed mixed on Tuesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P 500 index and the Nasdaq Composite were called to open up 0.1%.
Asian stocks closed mostly lower, as noted in the open comment, including a 2.0% loss for the Hang Seng index.
Brent oil was quoted higher at $72.63 a barrel at midday in London on Thursday from $72.32 late Wednesday.
Gold was quoted lower at $2,549.62 an ounce against $2,591.88.
Still to come on Thursday’s economic calendar is the PPI and unemployment data from the US. There will also be evening comments from European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde, and from Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey.
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