5th Mar 2025 08:55
(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London opened mostly higher on Wednesday, ahead of composite purchasing managers' index reads from the UK and other regions and after China's beat consensus forecasts.
"Today, investors will watch the US ADP report, and PMI, ISM numbers from both sides of the Atlantic Ocean," said Swissquote's Ipek Ozkardeskaya. "While the European investors could brush off bad news on expectation that the US tensions will boost activity sooner rater than later, weakness in the US data will probably be perceived as bad news and should further weaken appetite."
The FTSE 100 index opened up 54.66 points, 0.6%, at 8,813.66. The FTSE 250 was up 334.82 points, 1.7%, at 20,285.32, and the AIM All-Share was up 7.79 points, 1.1%, at 694.66.
The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.8% at 881.63, the Cboe UK 250 was up 2.0% at 17,650.44, and the Cboe Small Companies was down 0.1% at 15,510.16.
Games Workshop led the FTSE 100, jumping 8.1% after a very short but positive trading update. Barclays came second, rising 6.4%.
Exane BNP raised Barclays to 'outperform' from 'neutral' on Tuesday afternoon, increasing the price target to 370 pence from 335p.
National Grid led the laggers, down 3.1%. Severn Trent lost 2.7% ahead of its Capital Markets Day.
The water utility guided for net operational outperformance in AMP8 of over GBP300 million, and set out "multi-decade investment" plans.
Breedon was the best-performing mid-cap, jumping 13%.
The construction materials firm saw profit decrease but revenue rising to GBP1.58 billion thanks to "our entry into the US", and described the economic landscape there as "robust".
It also increased its full-year dividend and announced its acquisition of road infrastructure end market-focused business Lionmark.
Balfour Beatty was among the FTSE 250 laggers, down 2.3%.
The infrastructure company announced that Chief Executive Leo Quinn will step down later this year after over a decade in the role.
Balfour named AtkinsRealis Group Chief Operating Officer Philip Hoare as Quinn's successor. Hoare will join the firm in September.
In smaller caps, EnSilica gained 7.3%.
The chip manufacturer announced its win of a EUR2.1 million development contract under the European Space Agency's Navigation Innovation & Support Programme Element 2.
"The company will be focused on developing a key silicon component to enable next-generation resilient multi-band Global Navigation Satellite System ["GNSS"] capabilities which are vital to ensuring the world's critical infrastructure and services remain robust and secure in the face of evolving global threats," EnSilica said.
In European equities on Wednesday, the CAC 40 in Paris was up 1.7%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt was up 2.8%.
SPI's Stephen Innes declared Germany "the real star of the show", noting: "Berlin just obliterated its own fiscal rulebook, unleashing hundreds of billions of euros for defence and infrastructure spending, marking the most aggressive fiscal shift in modern German history.
"This is a game-changer, and the market wasted no time repricing. The euro launched to a three-month high, while bond markets got steamrolled, with Bund yields surging and US Treasuries catching some serious heat."
The pound was quoted at USD1.2839 early on Wednesday in London, higher compared to USD1.2712 at the equities close on Tuesday. The euro stood higher at USD1.0690, against USD1.0525. Against the yen, the dollar was trading higher at JPY149.28 compared to JPY148.56.
In Asia on Wednesday, the Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo was up 0.2%. In China, the Shanghai Composite was up 0.5%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was up 2.9%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney closed down 0.7%.
"Hong Kong stocks took the lead, riding a wave of stimulus bets after China reaffirmed its 5% growth target—a figure that isn't exactly electrifying but wasn't a disappointment either, and that's all traders needed to hit the buy button," commented SPI's Innes.
In the US on Tuesday, Wall Street ended lower, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 1.6%, the S&P 500 down 1.2% and the Nasdaq Composite down 0.4%.
Brent oil was quoted higher at USD70.70 a barrel early in London on Wednesday from USD70.29 late Tuesday.
Gold was quoted higher at USD2,918.73 an ounce against USD2,908.04.
Still to come on Wednesday's economic calendar, get ready for the UK composite PMI at 0930 GMT. The US reading will follow at 0945 EST.
By Emma Curzon, Alliance News reporter
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