London open: FTSE nudges up ahead of busy policy week; Phoenix surges
By Michele Maatouk
Date: Monday 17 Mar 2025
(Sharecast News) - London stocks nudged higher in early trade on Monday ahead of a week packed with central bank policy announcements, as investors mulled the latest developments in Donald Trump's trade war.
At 0830 GMT, the FTSE 100 was up 0.1% at 8,643.27.
Patrick Munnelly at Tickmill Group said: "This week will be marked by significant central bank meetings, including the Fed, SNB, and BoJ on Wednesday, followed by the BoE's rate decision on Thursday. However, it appears that little will change, with rates expected to remain unchanged across these banks, except for the SNB, which is more likely to implement a rate cut.
"The Fed will release new economic projections; however, it remains unclear if many of the 'placeholder assumptions' about government policies used in previous estimations, prior to Trump's administration, can now be confidently updated with more concrete data. Additionally, pay attention to any indications regarding the potential pause or slowdown of quantitative tightening, especially after it was mentioned in the January minutes.
"As for the BoE, the minutes are likely to reiterate a 'gradual and careful' strategy. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) will have preliminary insights from the labour market report released on Thursday, where we will be looking for signs of slack, particularly regarding underemployment instead of just unemployment.
"Another point of interest in the UK will be the February public finances data released on Friday, which could influence the risk outlook for the remit to be announced on March 26 for 2025-26."
Market participants were also mulling the latest comments from US President Trump, who said there would be no exemptions on US steel and aluminium tariffs.
On home shores, data from Rightmove showed the average price of a home coming to market rose in March in line with the long-term average increase for that month, as many new sellers priced sensibly amid decade-high competition to sell.
House prices ticked up 1.1% on the month following a 0.5% jump in February. On the year, price growth slowed to 1% in March from 1.4% the month before.
The average price of a property stood at £371,870, up from £367,994 in February.
Rightmove said that while new Spring buyers will not beat this month's stamp duty deadline, they will benefit from the highest property choice at this time of year since 2015.
It highlighted a "massive" log-jam of 575,000 moves in the legal completion process, with many trying to beat March's stamp duty deadline.
Colleen Babcock, property expert at Rightmove, said: "Historic averages show that this March is likely to be one of the strongest months of the year for sellers to spring into action. However, sellers can't just rely on these historic averages for success, as this year they are facing a decade-high level of competition. Those who are successfully finding buyers right now are working hard with their agents to price competitively and present their home in the best possible light.
"The big milestone ahead in England is the stamp duty deadline, and with a massive log-jam of 575,000 moves going through the legal completion process, many cost-conscious buyers will be doing all they can to get their move over the line and avoid unnecessary extra tax.
"Whilst agents tell us that they have been working with both sellers and buyers to factor in the additional charges, many movers are understandably hoping to reduce their tax bill and keep their savings for themselves."
In equity markets, Phoenix Group surged as it upgraded its cash generation and adjusted operating profit targets through 2026 following a strong performance in 2024.
Defence contractor QinetiQ tumbled after saying it would take a £140m impairment charge as tough market conditions persisted into the fourth quarter, hitting work in its UK intelligence and US sectors and resulting in further delays to a number of contract awards.
It added that it had also identified a number of one-off, largely non-cash charges and provisions primarily relating to inventory and cost recovery in legacy US operations.
Around £25-30m is included in updated underlying profit guidance for the year end and around £35-40m would be reported through exceptional items.
Energean also fell sharply after saying it remains committed to the sale of its portfolio in Egypt, Italy and Croatia to an outfit controlled by Carlyle International Energy Partners.
AstraZeneca nudged lower is it announced the up to $1bn acquisition of Belgian biotech firm EsoBiotec, which it said has the potential to "transform" cell therapy.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 8,643.27 0.13%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,983.75 -0.06%
techMARK (TASX) 4,764.48 -0.47%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Phoenix Group Holdings (PHNX) 554.50p 5.82%
Beazley (BEZ) 900.00p 1.41%
Prudential (PRU) 766.60p 1.11%
Legal & General Group (LGEN) 244.70p 1.03%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,869.00p 0.95%
Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,102.50p 0.78%
Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 3,432.00p 0.76%
Mondi (MNDI) 1,262.50p 0.76%
NATWEST GROUP (NWG) 444.20p 0.75%
3i Group (III) 3,763.00p 0.72%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 322.80p -3.47%
Tesco (TSCO) 327.60p -3.42%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 229.40p -2.38%
BAE Systems (BA.) 1,637.00p -1.21%
Compass Group (CPG) 2,631.00p -1.09%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 523.20p -0.91%
Games Workshop Group (GAW) 14,790.00p -0.74%
Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 960.80p -0.70%
Halma (HLMA) 2,696.00p -0.55%
F&C Investment Trust (FCIT) 1,100.00p -0.54%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Dr. Martens (DOCS) 56.45p 4.93%
CMC Markets (CMCX) 227.00p 4.85%
NCC Group (NCC) 135.80p 3.51%
Foresight Solar Fund Limited (FSFL) 83.70p 3.08%
Premier Foods (PFD) 185.00p 2.78%
HGCapital Trust (HGT) 522.00p 2.76%
Pets at Home Group (PETS) 240.60p 2.73%
Future (FUTR) 896.00p 2.46%
Target Healthcare Reit Ltd (THRL) 95.00p 2.37%
Victrex plc (VCT) 995.00p 2.37%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
QinetiQ Group (QQ.) 452.00p -13.82%
Energean (ENOG) 846.50p -9.99%
Bloomsbury Publishing (BMY) 552.00p -4.83%
AO World (AO.) 94.10p -4.76%
Elementis (ELM) 143.20p -4.28%
Mony Group (MONY) 196.60p -2.67%
Marshalls (MSLH) 237.00p -2.67%
Bridgepoint Group (Reg S) (BPT) 318.20p -2.57%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 233.50p -2.22%
Monks Inv Trust (MNKS) 1,174.00p -2.17%
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