London open: Stocks gain ahead of US inflation; Experian surges

(Sharecast News) - London stocks rose in early trade on Wednesday, helped along by the likes of Experian and Imperial Brands, as investors eyed the latest US inflation reading. At 0835 BST, the FTSE 100 was up 0.5% at 8,467.82, having hit a record high of 8,474.41 closer to the open.

Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Bank, said: "All eyes are on the US CPI update today. Both headline and core inflation are expected to have moderated last month.

"If that's the case, the risk rally will likely continue. And if it's not the case, the risk rally could continue, as well. Until when? Until it doesn't."

US CPI for April is due out at 1330 BST, along with retail sales and the NY Empire State manufacturing index.

In equity markets, Experian surged after saying that FY24 growth was at the top end of expectations.

Tobacco giant Imperial Brands gained as it reiterated its full-year outlook despite a fall in interim profits and sales.

Engineering firm Spirax-Sarco was in the black as it maintained its guidance for organic sales growth this year despite ongoing weakness in the wider market, though foreign exchange headwinds will impact profits more than previously thought.

Keller Group rallied as the geotechnical engineer said its annual earnings would be "materially ahead" of expectations after a strong performance in the first four months of the year.

Britvic fizzed higher as the drinks company posted a jump in interim profit and revenue and announced a £75m share buyback, as it highlighted "strong" customer demand for its brands.

Hunting surged as it said full-year earnings would be at the upper end of expectations after winning a $145m order with the Kuwait Oil Company.

On the downside, Burberry slumped as it warned of a challenging first half after slowing demand hit annual sales and profits. The luxury fashion brand said revenues in the year to 30 March fell 4% to £2.97bn. On a constant currency basis, revenues were flat, while like-for-like store sales fell 1%.

Burberry said a "robust" first half, where comparable store sales had sparked 10%, had been offset by a more challenging second half, when they fell 8%.

Compass Group also fell even as the catering firm lifted its 2024 underlying operating profit growth guidance.



Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 8,467.82 0.47% FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,681.94 0.31% techMARK (TASX) 4,764.16 0.38%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Experian (EXPN) 3,727.00p 7.41% Centrica (CNA) 142.50p 2.22% Spirax-Sarco Engineering (SPX) 9,465.00p 2.21% Vodafone Group (VOD) 74.76p 2.02% Imperial Brands (IMB) 1,909.50p 1.65% Diploma (DPLM) 4,144.00p 1.42% Glencore (GLEN) 498.65p 1.25% SEGRO (SGRO) 898.80p 1.24% London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) 9,160.00p 1.24% Beazley (BEZ) 679.50p 1.12%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,146.00p -3.58% B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 530.40p -3.32% Compass Group (CPG) 2,268.00p -2.28% Ocado Group (OCDO) 363.50p -1.70% JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 122.25p -0.73% Frasers Group (FRAS) 821.00p -0.55% Associated British Foods (ABF) 2,706.00p -0.48% Tesco (TSCO) 312.50p -0.45% Whitbread (WTB) 3,101.00p -0.42% Pershing Square Holdings Ltd NPV (PSH) 4,118.00p -0.39%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Keller Group (KLR) 1,274.00p 12.15% Britvic (BVIC) 988.50p 7.74% QinetiQ Group (QQ.) 370.00p 2.44% Kier Group (KIE) 147.00p 2.23% Clarkson (CKN) 4,145.00p 1.72% Redde Northgate (REDD) 415.00p 1.72% Shaftesbury Capital (SHC) 142.30p 1.64% Barr (A.G.) (BAG) 581.00p 1.57% SThree (STEM) 439.00p 1.50% Hochschild Mining (HOC) 160.20p 1.39%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Hill and Smith (HILS) 1,884.00p -2.99% Bank of Georgia Group (BGEO) 4,580.00p -2.97% Kainos Group (KNOS) 1,018.00p -2.49% Lancashire Holdings Limited (LRE) 611.00p -2.40% Ferrexpo (FXPO) 47.05p -2.39% AJ Bell (AJB) 350.00p -2.23% Energean (ENOG) 1,178.00p -2.16% Genus (GNS) 1,828.00p -1.72% Dr. Martens (DOCS) 78.50p -1.38% Baillie Gifford Japan Trust (BGFD) 725.00p -1.36%