London opened firmer this morning after Monday’s rise, with the FTSE 100 up 0.9% and the FTSE 250 up 0.2%, as a wave of company updates lands.
The DAX and CAC 40 are each up 0.3%, while the Stoxx 50 is down 0.1%. US earnings come into focus this week.
Oil lower, gold higher
Brent is down 1.3% at $105.30 and WTI has declined 1.5% to $92.33. Meanwhile, spot gold is up 0.5% at $4,191, and sterling has gained 0.2% to $1.3230 ahead of US inflation data on Wednesday.
In geopolitics, Qatar’s Emir said efforts must be doubled to secure Gulf and Strait of Hormuz navigation and protect energy facilities.
President Donald Trump said the Houthis are “misbehaving very badly” after attacks on Saudi airports including Riyadh and Dammam.
FTSE 100 movers
BP shares are trading around 1.5% higher on Tuesday morning following a third-quarter trading statement, with the company saying it expects net debt of $13.5-14.5bn, against $22.3bn at the second quarter.
Whitbread is up 2.43% after first-half adjusted pre-tax profit of £287m, down from £316m. The board is “confident in the full year outlook”, and activist Corvex has requisitioned a meeting on 9 November.
Diageo is up 2.60% after publishing restated regional results, while Croda International has rallied 3.19%.
The FTSE 100 fallers include Polar Capital Technology Trust (-1.95%), Rio Tinto (-1.47%), Antofagasta (-1.42%) and Sainsbury’s (-1.39%).
FTSE 250 movers
In the FTSE 250, Greencore is up 4.96% after guiding full-year adjusted operating profit to about £248m, above consensus of £238m. Chief executive Dalton Philips said: “Greencore has had a monumental year, and we finished it with a strong performance in Q4.”
Baltic Classifieds (+4.93%), Morgan Sindall (+4.72%) and CMC Markets (+4.01%) also rise. Integrafin is down 2.99% despite record gross inflows of £11.2bn, with full-year net inflows slipping to £4.2bn from £4.4bn. Raspberry Pi is down 3.96% and THG down 2.81%.
Deals and housebuilding
Elsewhere, Bellway reported completions up 10.8% to 9,695 and announced a £150m buyback.
Landsec said it has acquired a further 10% of Bluewater for £95m.
Balfour Beatty revealed it has sold its 50% Gammon stake for £250m cash.
And finally, Plus500 is conditionally acquiring US broker-dealer Hedge Capital Markets, with the firm expecting to launch its US ‘super-app’ in Q1 2027.
