Stock prices in London were virtually unmoved Thursday morning, as investors carefully eye a flurry of US economic data.
Amongst individual stocks, Auto Trader was the morning’s star performer, after it posted higher annual revenue and profit. Bootmaker Dr Martens shares got a boost, too, despite warning of a gloomy outlook.
The FTSE 100 index opened up 0.35 of a point at 8,183.42. The FTSE 250 was up 27.60 points, 0.1%, at 20,463.94, and the AIM All-Share was down 0.09 of a point at 800.18.
The Cboe UK 100 was down marginally at 816.26, the Cboe UK 250 was down marginally at 17,933.59, and the Cboe Small Companies was down 0.1% at 16,795.45.
In European equities on Thursday, the CAC 40 in Paris was up 0.2%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt was down 0.2%.
In the US on Wednesday, Wall Street ended lower, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 1.1%, the S&P 500 down 0.7% and the Nasdaq Composite down 0.6%.
Eyes are on Friday’s core personal consumption expenditures index, which analysts at ING said will be ‘important for markets’.
The numbers are expected to show that the core personal consumption expenditures index, the Federal Reserve’s preferred US inflation gauge, rose 2.8% year-on-year in April, the same pace of growth as in March.
Before that on Thursday, there is a US gross domestic product reading at 1330 BST.
The pound was quoted at $1.2695 early on Thursday in London, down compared to $1.2710 at the equities close on Wednesday. The euro stood at $1.0797, lower against $1.0811. Against the yen, the dollar was trading at JP¥156.89, lower compared to JP¥157.56.
In the FTSE 100, Auto Trader shined, jumping 11% to the top of the index.
The automotive online marketplace and classified advertising business reported that in the year ended March 31 revenue rose to £570.9 million from £500.2 million a year earlier. Pretax profit climbed to £345.2 million from £293.6 million.
Looking ahead, Chief Executive Nathan Coe said: ‘We are confident in our prospects for the year ahead and, in the longer term, we see significant opportunities to continue growing our marketplace and to move more of the car buying process online, on Auto Trader.’
In the FTSE 250, Dr Martens jumped 7.7%.
The London-based company said pretax profit fell by 42% to £93.0 million in the financial year that ended March 31 from £159.4 million the year before. Before currency affects, pretax profit fell 43% to £97.2 million from £170.1 million.
Revenue was £877.1 million, down 12% from £1.00 billion. It was down 9.8% at constant currency rates. The company sold 11.5 million pairs of its iconic boots, down 17% from 13.8 million in financial 2023.
The company proposed a final dividend of 0.99p, taking the total dividend to 2.55p, down from 5.84p.
Dr Martens noted that financial 2024 was a ‘challenging year’ for the company, with a difficult trading environment.
Currys rose 3.7%. Berenberg raised the electricals retailer to ’buy’ from ’hold’.
Amongst London’s small-caps, De La Rue rose 5.1%.
The Hampshire, England-based banknote printer noted positive momentum in both its Authentication and Currency divisions with a number of significant recent contract wins and renewals.
Chief Executive Officer Clive Vacher commented: ‘We are delighted to extend our relationship with these high-profile customers within our Authentication division. This, alongside other recent renewals and the expanding Currency order book, demonstrates further progress in the development of De La Rue which will help to underpin our performance in FY25.’
In Asia on Thursday, the Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo was down 1.3%. In China, the Shanghai Composite was down 0.6%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was down 1.4%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney closed down 0.5%.
Brent oil was quoted at $82.97 a barrel early in London on Thursday, down from $83.50 late Wednesday. Gold was quoted at $2,333.20 an ounce, lower against $2,339.63.
Thursday’s economic calendar has a eurozone unemployment reading at 1000 BST, before Irish inflation data at 1100 BST.
Copyright 2024 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
