London open: Stocks rally ahead of Fed meeting; Kingfisher surges

(Sharecast News) - London stocks rallied in early trade on Tuesday following a flat close in the previous session, as investors eyed the start of the Federal Reserve's two-day policy meeting and an expected rate cut. At 0825 BST, the FTSE 100 was up 0.7% at 8,337.02.

Derren Nathan, head of equity research at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "After an indecisive start to the week the FTSE was expected to open around 0.75% today. This followed a mixed day across the pond where falls in the share prices of Apple and Nvidia offset broad based strength in other sectors.

"While markets remain certain of a rate cut at tomorrow's Fed meeting, the jury is still broadly split as to whether the reduction will be a quarter point or a half point. US Bond yields were largely flat yesterday suggesting little change in opinion. There will be a few final pieces of the jigsaw for policy makers to digest later today, including US retail sales and industrial production."

In equity markets, B&Q and Castorama owner Kingfisher surged to the top of the FTSE 100 after it lifted the lower end of full-year profit guidance as it posted interim results in line with expectations.

The company now expects adjusted pre-tax profit of £510m to £550m, up from £490m to £550m. Pre-tax profit for the six months to 31 July rose 2.3% to £324m.

Gambling technology firm Playtech was in the black again after agreeing to sell its Italian business, Snaitech, to Flutter Entertainment for €2.3bn in cash.

Auction Technology rose sharply after an upgrade to 'overweight' from 'neutral' at JPMorgan Cazenove, which said the shares are overly discounting earnings risk into 2025.

On the downside, Essentra tanked as it warned that full-year adjusted operating profit would be below market expectations, pinning the blame on softer market conditions in Europe and a slower-than-expected rate of recovery in the Americas region.

THG was also down after the e-commerce firm confirmed it was "actively undertaking detailed work" to review potential structures to facilitate the demerger of its technology services arm, THG Ingenuity.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 8,337.02 0.71% FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,995.96 0.32% techMARK (TASX) 4,920.52 0.44%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Kingfisher (KGF) 306.90p 5.72% Smurfit Westrock (DI) (SWR) 3,538.00p 2.70% Smith (DS) (SMDS) 476.40p 1.84% JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 156.75p 1.59% Mondi (MNDI) 1,423.50p 1.50% Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 366.70p 1.47% Diageo (DGE) 2,499.00p 1.34% Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 298.20p 1.22% Prudential (PRU) 622.40p 1.20% Phoenix Group Holdings (PHNX) 552.50p 1.19%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Frasers Group (FRAS) 847.00p -0.70% Darktrace (DARK) 583.00p -0.31% Compass Group (CPG) 2,457.00p -0.12% Airtel Africa (AAF) 119.40p -0.08% Rio Tinto (RIO) 4,772.00p -0.04% F&C Investment Trust (FCIT) 1,022.00p 0.00% Associated British Foods (ABF) 2,232.00p 0.00% RELX FINANCE BV 3.375% GTD NTS 20/03/33 (BW73) 99.72p 0.00% Intertek Group (ITRK) 5,035.00p 0.00% Pearson (PSON) 1,057.50p 0.00%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Wetherspoon (J.D.) (JDW) 745.00p 4.86% Bridgepoint Group (Reg S) (BPT) 375.40p 4.74% Trainline (TRN) 340.00p 3.09% Mony Group (MONY) 213.20p 2.90% Ithaca Energy (ITH) 105.30p 2.83% SSP Group (SSPG) 165.50p 2.35% Direct Line Insurance Group (DLG) 180.50p 2.32% Shaftesbury Capital (SHC) 156.20p 2.23% Auction Technology Group (ATG) 407.00p 2.13% Elementis (ELM) 163.60p 1.87%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

SThree (STEM) 381.00p -3.54% Clarkson (CKN) 3,565.00p -2.19% Grainger (GRI) 234.50p -1.88% RS Group (RS1) 781.00p -1.82% Discoverie Group (DSCV) 600.00p -1.80% JTC (JTC) 1,114.00p -1.76% Currys (CURY) 78.00p -1.45% Jupiter Fund Management (JUP) 81.50p -1.45% Investec (INVP) 570.00p -1.38% Harworth Group (HWG) 189.50p -1.30%