London open: Stocks flat but Tesco rallies on guidance upgrade
By Michele Maatouk
Date: Thursday 02 Oct 2025
(Sharecast News) - London stocks were flat in early trade on Thursday following another record high in the previous session, after a weaker-than-expected US ADP report cemented rate cut expectations.
At 0825 BST, the FTSE 100 was steady at 9,444.17.
Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst, Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "The S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 closed at fresh all-time highs as investors shrugged off Washington gridlock and focused on softer labour data that reinforced expectations for Fed rate cuts.
"ADP's surprise decline pushed odds of an October cut near 100%, sending short-dated Treasuries higher while equities drew support from easing policy bets and optimism ahead of earnings season. Markets will likely give the shutdown a week or two of leeway before any cracks start to show."
In equity markets, 3i Group was the top gainer on the FTSE 100 following a Bloomberg report that the private equity firm is considering exit options, including a possible sale of French IT maintenance provider Evernex. According to Bloomberg, the sale of Evernex could be valued at €1.2bn to €1.5bn.
The shares were also boosted by an upgrade to 'buy' from 'neutral' at UBS.
Tesco rallied as it lifted its full-year guidance after a strong first half fuelled by the warm summer weather.
The supermarket giant said it now expects full-year group adjusted operating profit of between £2.9bn and £3.1bn, up from a previous range of between £2.7bn and £3.0bn.
Iconic bootmaker Dr Martens rose after saying it has entered the UAE for the first time through a distribution partnership agreement with Beside Group, and expanded its presence in Latin America by partnering with Crosby.
Morgan Sindall surged as it said 2025 results will be "significantly" ahead of its previous expectations, following a continuation of the strengthening performance from the Fit Out division.
On the downside, Experian slumped after US peers Equifax and TransUnion were hit by news that US analytics software firm Fair Isaac Corp was launching a new program that will give tri-merge resellers the option to calculate and distribute FICO scores directly to their customers, eliminating reliance on the three nationwide credit bureaus.
The FICO score is used by lenders to help make credit risk decisions across the customer lifecycle.
SSE fell after saying it expects first-half profits to fall by up to a third, but guided to growth over the full year with the majority of annual earnings being delivered in the second half.
BT fell after a downgrade to 'underperform' at BNPP Exane.
National Grid ticked lower despite saying it expects half-year results for the six months to 30 September to be in line with expectations.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 9,444.17 0.02%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 22,132.81 0.38%
techMARK (TASX) 5,555.51 0.03%
FTSE 100 - Risers
3i Group (III) 4,273.00p 3.16%
ICG (ICG) 2,266.00p 2.35%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 374.20p 2.18%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,205.50p 1.90%
Pershing Square Holdings Ltd NPV (PSH) 4,668.00p 1.88%
Croda International (CRDA) 2,817.00p 1.73%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 2,740.00p 1.48%
Tesco (TSCO) 435.90p 1.44%
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 1,820.00p 1.39%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 4,959.50p 1.39%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Experian (EXPN) 3,503.00p -4.68%
SSE (SSE) 1,716.50p -2.83%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 3,830.00p -1.95%
Fresnillo (FRES) 2,312.00p -1.78%
BT Group (BT.A) 188.45p -1.59%
Flutter Entertainment (DI) (FLTR) 18,965.00p -1.48%
Vodafone Group (VOD) 85.08p -1.30%
Severn Trent (SVT) 2,573.00p -1.04%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 1,139.50p -0.91%
Airtel Africa (AAF) 243.20p -0.90%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Morgan Sindall Group (MGNS) 4,845.00p 10.74%
Pinewood Technologies Group (PINE) 429.50p 4.25%
Watches of Switzerland Group (WOSG) 383.40p 3.06%
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 83.90p 2.94%
Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 1,175.00p 2.17%
Raspberry PI Holdings (RPI) 424.10p 1.95%
Computacenter (CCC) 2,726.00p 1.94%
THG (THG) 38.26p 1.92%
Frasers Group (FRAS) 765.00p 1.86%
Pagegroup (PAGE) 233.40p 1.83%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Foresight Solar Fund Limited (FSFL) 75.50p -1.95%
Bakkavor Group (BAKK) 207.00p -1.90%
TR Property Inv Trust (TRY) 315.00p -1.72%
TP Icap Group (TCAP) 270.50p -1.64%
Lion Finance Group (BGEO) 7,545.00p -1.57%
Pollen Street Group Limited (POLN) 910.00p -1.52%
Pantheon Infrastructure (PINT) 108.50p -1.36%
PayPoint (PAY) 736.00p -1.34%
Breedon Group (BREE) 354.60p -1.34%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 368.00p -1.23%
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