London's FTSE 100 opens 11.8 points lower at 7,010 despite gains on Wall Street and in Asia, with investors skittish over Brexit jitters and awaiting the European Central Bank's rate call soon after midday.
A trio of profit warnings rock investor sentiment early on, with components and systems maker Senior (SNR) crashing 21% lower to 161.9p on another earnings alert. The engineer warns its aerospace division has been impacted by a slower than expected ramp up in new programmes, supplier issues and price increase discussions, while its flexonics arm is encountering weakness in the oil and gas and truck markets.
Ground engineering group Keller (KLR) collapses 24.1% to 672p after cautioning full year results will be around 15% below market estimates, mainly due to underperformance in its Asia Pacific division.
And escrow and IT assurance business NCC (NCC) slumps the best part of 33% to 232.7p as CEO Rob Cotton warns a number of setbacks in the assurance division, including three large contract cancellations, will have 'an impact on profitability between the first and second half' of the financial year.
Heading the other way however is home credit and digital loans provider International Personal Finance (IPF), which powers 6.8% higher to 287.6p on news of 9% growth in credit issued for the third quarter, driven by a return to growth in Mexico, a good performance in Southern Europe and a strong performance from its digital business. Management also expects to see' continued growth and stable credit quality in Q4'.
Mining titan Rio Tinto (RIO) is bid up 26.5p to £26.50 on strong third quarter production figures. Iron ore output was 2% higher than a year ago while copper and aluminium production both saw double-digit increases.
Airport food seller SSP (SSPG) is marked up 4.3p to 334p as CEO Kate Swann announces a joint venture to take her charge into the Indian travel food and beverage market.
Last but not least, stock market newcomer Luceco (LUCE), a lighting and wiring specialist, continues to spark interest, the shares up another 3.6p to 159.75p.
