Search Share Prices
London open: Stocks push higher ahead of GDP data
London stocks were coaxed higher in early trade on Friday following North Korea's conciliatory response to US President Trump's decision to cancel their summit, with all eyes on the latest UK GDP reading.
At 0830 BST, the FTSE 100 was up 0.4% to 7,750.57, while the pound was down 0.3% against the dollar at 1.3346 and 0.1% lower versus the euro at 1.1411.
On Thursday, Trump announced that he had cancelled his meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore next month, blaming "open hostility". However, North Korea's measured response seems to have assuaged investors following a wobble in the previous session, as an official for the country said it is still willing to meet with the US to "resolve issues any time and in any format".
On the data front, the second estimate of first-quarter UK gross domestic product is due at 0930 BST, alongside mortgage approvals from UK Finance.
"We're looking for the second print of Q1 GDP to remain unchanged at 0.1% q/q, but will be taking a closer look at the first details of the national accounts breakdown," said TD Securities.
In corporate news, Pennon racked up strong gains as it reported a rise in full-year pre-tax profit and hiked its dividend as it sounded a positive note on the outlook for water and waste.
AstraZeneca was on the front foot after saying that phase III trials of its Imfinzi lung cancer treatment showed positive overall survival results in lung cancer patients whose disease had not progressed following chemotherapy and radiation.
Spectris was also trading higher as it posted a jump in group like-for-like sales for the first quarter and said its performance remains consistent with its expectations for the full year.
GVC Holdings rallied after saying it now expects cost synergies from its acquisition of Ladbrokes Coral to be £130m by 2021 versus the £100m expected at the time of the deal.
On the downside, SSE fell despite lifting its full-year dividend by 3.7% to 94.7p as it posted a 6% drop in full-year pretax profit and cut its medium-term dividend outlook.
Gold miner Centamin tumbled as it cut its production guidance for 2018 but said earnings were up 71% in the first quarter.
In broker note action, Royal Mail was knocked lower by a downgrade to 'sell' by Berenberg, while Moneysupermarket was hit by a downgrade to 'add' at Peel Hunt.
Big Yellow Group was cut to 'neutral' at JPMorgan and Imperial Brands was cut to 'sector perform' by RBC Capital Markets.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,750.57 0.44%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 21,060.18 0.34%
techMARK (TASX) 3,543.05 0.36%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Kingfisher (KGF) 307.00p 3.40%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 815.20p 2.64%
BT Group (BT.A) 206.80p 1.80%
Prudential (PRU) 1,900.50p 1.60%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 695.20p 1.55%
Smurfit Kappa Group (SKG) 3,044.00p 1.47%
Severn Trent (SVT) 2,062.00p 1.43%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,996.50p 1.35%
Old Mutual (OML) 247.90p 1.31%
Mondi (MNDI) 2,115.00p 1.24%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Royal Mail (RMG) 527.20p -3.34%
SSE (SSE) 1,407.00p -0.60%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 751.10p -0.41%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,794.40p -0.37%
Vodafone Group (VOD) 194.16p -0.36%
Evraz (EVR) 479.00p -0.35%
Imperial Brands (IMB) 2,751.50p -0.34%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 5,780.00p -0.28%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 65.96p -0.06%
Glencore (GLEN) 376.55p -0.01%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Pennon Group (PNN) 768.20p 5.23%
GVC Holdings (GVC) 1,013.00p 3.05%
Go-Ahead Group (GOG) 1,912.00p 2.41%
Dixons Carphone (DC.) 232.00p 2.07%
Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 3,292.00p 1.95%
St. Modwen Properties (SMP) 407.20p 1.85%
Greencore Group (GNC) 186.70p 1.74%
Renewi (RWI) 78.80p 1.68%
Workspace Group (WKP) 1,152.00p 1.68%
Ted Baker (TED) 2,494.00p 1.38%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 137.65p -13.61%
Moneysupermarket.com Group (MONY) 315.60p -2.17%
Morgan Advanced Materials (MGAM) 338.20p -2.03%
Purecircle Limited (DI) (PURE) 335.77p -1.53%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 240.90p -1.43%
Big Yellow Group (BYG) 945.00p -1.25%
Pets at Home Group (PETS) 128.70p -0.92%
Hunting (HTG) 862.00p -0.92%
TalkTalk Telecom Group (TALK) 120.00p -0.83%
Charter Court Financial Services Group (CCFS) 316.51p -0.78%