London open: Stocks recover poise after heavy losses

(Sharecast News) - London stocks rose in early trade on Friday, recovering from heavy losses earlier in the week as markets were rattled by worries about inflation and a global growth slowdown. At 0855 BST, the FTSE 100 was up 1.1% at 7,310.79.

Victoria Scholar, head of Investment at Interactive Investor, said: "After a mixed session on Wall Street, Asian markets came bouncing back overnight with the Nikkei rebounding by more than 2.5% and positive momentum has carried forward into the European session."

Despite the positive tone, Susannah Streeter, senior investment and markets analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said investors were continuing to wrestle with worries over inflation as the oil price climbs back up again and supply concerns resurface amid ongoing geopolitical tensions.

"As the era of cheap money has hurtled to an end, lowering liquidity in the markets, trading in the sessions ahead is set to stay volatile," she said.

Corporate news was thin on the ground, but company software provider Sage Group gained after it reported flat interim profits and revenue as organic growth in all regions was offset by disposals and foreign exchange headwinds. The company said pre-tax profit for the six months to March 31 fell 1% to £189m and revenue slipped to £934m from £937m.

Wholesale power firm ContourGlobal was also up after it said its diversified business remained "resilient and well positioned" despite "unprecedented turbulence" in global energy markets and that it had performed ahead of its expectations in the first quarter.

In broker note action, Drax was knocked lower by a downgrade to 'underperform' from 'neutral' at Credit Suisse, while Howden Joinery fell after a downgrade to 'hold' at Stifel.

Vodafone was also in the red after a downgrade to 'hold' from 'buy' at Jefferies, which cited "intractable headwinds".

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,310.79 1.07% FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,729.28 1.28% techMARK (TASX) 4,255.25 0.77%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Ocado Group (OCDO) 809.80p 4.63% Standard Chartered (STAN) 583.80p 3.33% Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 772.40p 2.88% Prudential (PRU) 939.40p 2.71% HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 496.05p 2.62% Dechra Pharmaceuticals (DPH) 3,226.00p 2.48% Abrdn (ABDN) 186.50p 2.47% Whitbread (WTB) 2,635.00p 2.41% Phoenix Group Holdings (PHNX) 606.80p 2.26% Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 1,725.00p 2.25%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Howden Joinery Group (HWDN) 665.20p -1.95% BT Group (BT.A) 175.15p -1.68% Pearson (PSON) 742.60p -1.67% Vodafone Group (VOD) 116.76p -1.65% Auto Trader Group (AUTO) 543.60p -1.63% Rightmove (RMV) 553.60p -0.82% Mondi (MNDI) 1,541.50p -0.71% London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) 7,184.00p -0.50% Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,336.00p -0.30% Endeavour Mining (EDV) 1,799.00p -0.11%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Bridgepoint Group (Reg S) (BPT) 279.00p 9.24% Chrysalis Investments Limited NPV (CHRY) 130.00p 6.56% Moonpig Group (MOON) 227.80p 5.17% TI Fluid Systems (TIFS) 175.00p 5.17% SSP Group (SSPG) 230.40p 4.35% Trustpilot Group (TRST) 105.90p 4.23% Centamin (DI) (CEY) 84.16p 3.95% Dr. Martens (DOCS) 190.10p 3.94% Network International Holdings (NETW) 222.80p 3.53% Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 713.40p 3.51%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Playtech (PTEC) 497.80p -3.90% Drax Group (DRX) 745.00p -3.62% Vietnam Enterprise Investments (DI) (VEIL) 652.00p -3.26% Murray International Trust (MYI) 1,220.00p -1.13% VinaCapital Vietnam Opportunity Fund Ltd. (VOF) 478.50p -0.93% Homeserve (HSV) 1,070.00p -0.56% Sequoia Economic Infrastructure Income Fund Limited (SEQI) 98.50p -0.51% Provident Financial (PFG) 241.40p -0.49% Bankers Inv Trust (BNKR) 99.60p -0.40% National Express Group (NEX) 249.20p -0.40%