UK stocks get off to a slow start on Monday after the FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 racked up gains of over 2% last Friday.
The main index is up 0.3% to 6,856 while the mid-cap index is 0.7% higher at 17,930.
Most sectors are in positive territory with the exception of Banks, Household Goods, Pharmaceuticals and Utilities which due to their market weight are holding the FTSE back.
Food retailers are having a good day with Ocado (OCDO) up 1.5% to 831p, Sainsbury’s (SBRY) up 2.3% to 266p and Tesco (TSCO) up 2.1% to 201p.
Heavyweight losers include AstraZeneca (AZN) down 0.8% to £60.38, Centrica (CNA) down 3.7% to 132p and HSBC (HSBA) down 1.6% to 646p.
BT trades sideways despite bid talk
BT (BT.) shares are flat this morning despite news reports over the weekend that the company has appointed corporate advisers in case rival Deutsche Telekom decides to launch a bid.
Deutsche Telekom took a 12.1% stake in BT three years ago in exchange for its EE mobile phone business in a deal worth £12.5bn.
At the end of January Deutsche Telekom could in theory bid for control. BT shares have halved in the last three years as the company has struggled to reduce costs and increase revenues.
New chief executive Philip Jansen joins at the start of February and it looks as though he may have a full diary already.
Dunelm pleases with full-year outlook
Leading the gainers on the FTSE 250 is home products and furnishings retailer Dunelm (DNLM) which is forecasting pre-tax profit ‘modestly’ ahead of market expectations based on its first half performance. Its shares jump 12% to 649p.
Unquoted retailer Hobbycraft also an delivered upbeat trading statement with in-store sales up as well as online sales.
Small and mid-cap oil exploration firms are getting a lift from Brent crude which is trading up 1.5% to $58.25.
Shares in Premier Oil (PMO) rally 4.5% to 79p while Petrofac (PFC) shares gain 4% to 530p.
Power supplier ContourGlobal (GLO) sees its shares gain 4% to 192p on news that it has acquired two natural gas-fired power plants in Mexico with development rights and permits for a third plant.
Shares in recruitment group Staffline (STAF) add 6% to £12.80 after winning more prison education contracts.
Staffline had set itself the target of doubling its market share in prison education to 20% and today’s contract wins take that figure to 25%, marking further progress in the group’s transformation.
