London open: Stocks flat as consumer confidence slides

(Sharecast News) - London stocks were steady in early trade on Thursday as investors mulled a slide UK in consumer confidence. At 0830 GMT, the FTSE 100 was flat at 8,542.94.

A survey released earlier showed that consumer sentiment has weakened to fresh lows, as the new year got off to a sluggish start.

According to the latest consumer sentiment monitor from the British Retail Consortium, expectations for the next three months have softened across a number of areas.

The personal finance situation dropped to -4 in January, down one point on December, while the state of the economy eased to -34 from -27.

Respondents also signalled they intended to spend less now the festive season was over. Personal spending on retail fell to -9 from -3, while spending overall declined to 4 from 11.

In contrast, expectations for personal saving in the current quarter increased to -3 from -5 a month earlier.

Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the BRC, said: "As the government warns of tough times ahead, it is little surprise that the public have caught the January blues.

"Concerns [are] most pronounced among older generations. Gen Z (18-to-27 year olds) remain the only group to expect the economy to improve, while two thirds of 60-to-78 year olds expect things to get worse.

"Expectations of retail spending and wider spending both fell significantly, though much of this is likely to be at the end of the Christmas period, as people tightened their belts for the new year."

In equity markets, Associated British Foods fell as it cut its outlook for Primark sales growth in 2025. It said warmer autumn weather and cautious consumers dented UK revenue in the 16 weeks to 4 January.

AB Foods said it was now targeting low-single digit sales growth for Primark, down from previous guidance of mid-single digit growth.

Trading platform CMC Markets tumbled after a very brief update in which it said it remained on track to deliver annual net operating income in line with previous guidance.

Shore Capital analyst Vivek Raja said: "The share price has been strong over the past couple of weeks, so to the extent the market was expecting a more positive trading update today (perhaps more news on how the Revolut partnership has progressed), we could imagine weakness today."

Elsewhere, car dealership Inchcape was knocked lower by a downgrade to 'neutral' from 'overweight' at JPMorgan.

On the upside, Auto Trader was the top gainer on the FTSE 100, having slumped a day earlier after BNP Paribas Exane slashed its price target on the shares.

Precision instruments supplier Spectris surged after saying it expects to beat market expectations with its 2024 results, with adjusted operating profit for the year set to be above the upper end of analysts' forecasts of £183.3m to £201m, but still down from £262.5m in 2023.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 8,542.94 -0.03% FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,585.78 0.03% techMARK (TASX) 4,731.69 0.83%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Auto Trader Group (AUTO) 790.00p 1.78% Weir Group (WEIR) 2,388.00p 1.62% Intermediate Capital Group (ICG) 2,286.00p 1.24% easyJet (EZJ) 490.60p 1.20% Smurfit Westrock (DI) (SWR) 4,499.00p 1.19% AstraZeneca (AZN) 11,116.00p 0.69% Vodafone Group (VOD) 68.64p 0.65% International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 331.60p 0.64% British American Tobacco (BATS) 2,977.00p 0.61% NATWEST GROUP (NWG) 420.20p 0.60%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Games Workshop Group (GAW) 14,040.00p -2.16% Anglo American (AAL) 2,520.00p -1.43% JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 81.98p -1.21% Entain (ENT) 698.40p -1.19% Rio Tinto (RIO) 4,947.00p -1.08% Prudential (PRU) 646.40p -0.89% Rentokil Initial (RTO) 376.80p -0.84% Fresnillo (FRES) 679.50p -0.80% BP (BP.) 423.10p -0.74% Flutter Entertainment (DI) (FLTR) 21,680.00p -0.69%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Spectris (SXS) 3,088.00p 14.37% IP Group (IPO) 54.00p 4.05% Energean (ENOG) 1,056.00p 3.23% Oxford Instruments (OXIG) 2,175.00p 2.59% FirstGroup (FGP) 166.80p 2.58% Me Group International (MEGP) 215.00p 2.38% Crest Nicholson Holdings (CRST) 183.00p 2.18% Softcat (SCT) 1,536.00p 2.06% Mobico Group (MCG) 75.85p 1.81% RHI Magnesita N.V. (DI) (RHIM) 3,505.00p 1.59%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

CMC Markets (CMCX) 244.50p -7.74% Inchcape (INCH) 698.50p -7.11% Dr. Martens (DOCS) 68.90p -4.90% NB Private Equity Partners Ltd. (NBPE) 1,494.00p -3.61% Victrex plc (VCT) 1,030.00p -3.20% Harbour Energy (HBR) 282.00p -2.52% Clarkson (CKN) 4,175.00p -2.22% Ithaca Energy (ITH) 132.20p -2.07% ICG Enterprise Trust (ICGT) 1,308.00p -1.95% Bodycote (BOY) 624.00p -1.89%