London open: Stocks flat ahead of US PPI; Burberry surges

(Sharecast News) - London stocks were steady in early trade on Thursday as investors sifted through a raft of corporate news and looked ahead to another US inflation reading. At 0905 GMT, the FTSE 100 was flat at 8,029.02.

On the macro front, the US producer price index for October is due for release at 1330 GMT.

Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Bank, said: "The figures are expected to point at an uptick in factory-gate prices in October. The headline PPI is seen rebounding from 1.8% to 2.3% in October, and core PPI from 2.8% to 3%. And don't forget that there are components in these figures that feed into the Fed's PCE index.

"Therefore, even if these numbers are in line with expectations, they should be warning that a 25bp cut from the Fed is probably not the right thing to do. I am not saying that the Fed won't do it. I am just saying that it's probably not the right thing to do."

Market participants were also looking ahead to the release of third-quarter UK GDP data on Friday.

In equity markets, Spirax was a high riser as it left its full-year outlook unchanged after increasing organic sales across all three of its businesses in the third quarter, but warned of a slight impact on results from currency movements.

B&M European Value Retail also gained as it reiterated its full-year outlook after half-year sales ticked higher.

Aviva rose as it hailed a "very strong" performance in the third quarter, with double-digit gains in general insurance premiums, life insurance and retirement sales, and wealth net flows.

3i Group pushed higher as it highlighted a "good" financial performance in the first half, with a total return of £2.05bn, or 10% on opening shareholders' funds.

Burberry surged as the luxury goods brand suspended its dividend and launched a strategic review of the business in an "urgent" effort to turnaround its struggling fortunes after slumping to a £80m half-year loss.

The company said "Burberry forward" would focus on "reconnecting our brand with its original purpose and leveraging our strengths...to attract a broad base of luxury customers".

The loss compares with a £223m profit a year earlier. Revenues plunged 22% to £1.08bn.

Burberry said with the key Christmas period ahead and an uncertain macroeconomic environment it was "too early to determine whether our second-half results will fully offset the first-half adjusted operating loss".

Mr Kipling owner Premier Foods advanced as it reported higher first-half revenues and profits as easing inflation allowed consumers to "treat themselves more" to its range of products.

On the downside, WH Smith fell even as the retailer reported a jump in full-year profit and revenue, hailing a particularly strong performance from the UK travel business and over the summer.

Lancashire Holdings, Sainsbury's and Bunzl were all in the red as they traded without entitlement to the dividend.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 8,029.02 -0.02% FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,375.78 0.08% techMARK (TASX) 4,603.41 -0.29%

FTSE 100 - Risers

B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 397.70p 4.71% Spirax Group (SPX) 6,645.00p 4.32% Aviva (AV.) 470.00p 3.36% 3i Group (III) 3,419.00p 2.67% Vistry Group (VTY) 726.00p 1.82% Informa (INF) 840.40p 1.62% BP (BP.) 375.90p 1.58% International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 239.50p 1.35% SEGRO (SGRO) 762.80p 1.06% Centrica (CNA) 119.70p 1.01%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Fresnillo (FRES) 615.00p -2.92% Convatec Group (CTEC) 250.20p -2.42% Experian (EXPN) 3,675.00p -2.39% DCC (CDI) (DCC) 5,360.00p -1.74% Glencore (GLEN) 370.05p -1.71% Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 239.20p -1.64% Anglo American (AAL) 2,196.50p -1.59% Intermediate Capital Group (ICG) 2,054.00p -1.15% Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 2,770.00p -1.07% Smith (DS) (SMDS) 556.50p -1.07%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Burberry Group (BRBY) 834.60p 14.11% FirstGroup (FGP) 142.40p 4.09% Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 1,462.00p 3.03% Premier Foods (PFD) 193.20p 2.88% Kier Group (KIE) 142.60p 2.59% North Atlantic Smaller Companies Inv Trust (NAS) 3,940.00p 2.34% Dr. Martens (DOCS) 55.45p 2.02% Bank of Georgia Group (BGEO) 4,925.00p 1.97% Petershill Partners (PHLL) 225.00p 1.81% Babcock International Group (BAB) 522.50p 1.65%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Keller Group (KLR) 1,452.00p -11.25% Lancashire Holdings Limited (LRE) 594.00p -10.27% WH Smith (SMWH) 1,229.00p -5.53% Hochschild Mining (HOC) 206.00p -3.96% Fidelity Emerging Markets Limited Ptg NPV (FEML) 672.30p -2.86% Centamin (DI) (CEY) 137.60p -2.76% Endeavour Mining (EDV) 1,502.00p -2.28% Schroder Oriental Income Fund Ltd. (SOI) 266.50p -2.20% NextEnergy Solar Fund Limited Red (NESF) 72.10p -2.04% Greencoat UK Wind (UKW) 127.30p -1.85%