London open: Stocks edge higher ahead of Queen's Speech, Imperial rises

27th May 2015 09:20

UK stocks rebounded slightly on Wednesday morning after a sharp sell-off the previous session, with investors awaiting the Queen's Speech on a quiet day in terms of economic and corporate news.The FTSE 100 was up 0.32% at 6,971.03 early on after dropping 1.18% on Tuesday to 6,948.99.Consumer confidence surveys will be released on Wednesday in France and Germany, alongside business confidence data out of Belgium, however the calendar looks sparse compared with a busy session previously.Mostly better-than-expected economic data from the States spurred a continued rally in the dollar on Tuesday - which started on Friday following higher-than-expected US inflation figures - but had the opposite effect on commodity prices, sending stocks in the heavyweight UK mining and oil sectors firmly lower.Ongoing uncertainty in Greece also dampened sentiment as fears about a potential default by Athens continue to grow.As for Wednesday's session, investors will likely be keeping a close eye on the Queen's Speech as she puts forward the agenda of the new government following the elections. "For markets, any announcements on a potential EU membership referendum will likely be the most interesting feature of the speech," said analyst Henry Skeoch from Barclays.Recent reports have suggested that Prime Minister David Cameron could fast-track plans for an EU referendum to as early as next year.Meanwhile, consultancy EY warned on Tuesday that the uncertainty caused by the possibility of a referendum "will be disruptive and is a risk to the UK's foreign direct investment performance". Some 31% of those surveyed said their would either reduce of shelve planned investments up to 2017, EY said.Imperial leads the riseImperial Tobacco gained after being given the green light by US trade regulators for its $4.7bn asset purchase from the merging Lorillard and Reynolds. The deal, which still must clear some smaller legal hurdles, is expected to complete within weeks.Royal Bank of Scotland rose amid speculation it could bid for part of Granite, which is a £13bn state-owned mortgage portfolio for sale by the UK government, according to Sky News.Engine maker Rolls-Royce was also higher after saying it was selected by the British Army to supply 589 MTU series 199 diesel engines for use in the new SCOUT specialist vehicle. The contract is worth around €80m.Synergy Health was a heavy faller on rumours that US regulators might block the takeover by Steris.Banknote printer De La Rue dropped sharply after posting a decline in pre-tax profit to £38.9m for fiscal 2015 from £59.8m amid ongoing pricing pressures.Some of the fizz went out of Irn Bru maker AG Barr after sales fell 1.1% year-on-year in the first quarter.Insurers Beazley and Hiscox were both higher after JPMorgan Cazenove upgraded the stocks to 'overweight'. Meanwhile, engineer Weir Group was hit by a downgrade to 'hold' at Deutsche Bank. Market MoverstechMARK 3,298.11 +0.43%FTSE 100 6,971.03 +0.32%FTSE 250 18,139.37 +0.22%FTSE 100 - RisersCRH (CRH) 1,803.00p +1.52%Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 3,333.00p +1.49%International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 552.00p +1.38%AstraZeneca (AZN) 4,427.00p +1.22%Hammerson (HMSO) 678.00p +1.19%SSE (SSE) 1,663.00p +1.09%easyJet (EZJ) 1,632.00p +0.99%Persimmon (PSN) 1,948.00p +0.93%Land Securities Group (LAND) 1,320.00p +0.92%Wolseley (WOS) 4,039.00p +0.92%FTSE 100 - FallersOld Mutual (OML) 226.90p -1.77%Weir Group (WEIR) 1,968.00p -1.70%SABMiller (SAB) 3,517.00p -1.14%Mondi (MNDI) 1,486.00p -1.07%Glencore (GLEN) 287.00p -0.95%Standard Life (SL.) 489.40p -0.83%BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,366.50p -0.62%Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 255.00p -0.51%Prudential (PRU) 1,622.50p -0.49%Associated British Foods (ABF) 2,887.00p -0.45%FTSE 250 - RisersHiscox Limited (CDI) (HSX) 859.50p +3.31%Beazley (BEZ) 291.80p +3.07%Micro Focus International (MCRO) 1,327.00p +2.63%AL Noor Hospitals Group (ANH) 964.00p +2.55%Daejan Holdings (DJAN) 5,720.00p +2.33%Brit (BRIT) 286.00p +2.14%Zoopla Property Group (WI) (ZPLA) 237.60p +1.84%RPS Group (RPS) 228.70p +1.83%Rank Group (RNK) 207.50p +1.72%Clarkson (CKN) 2,441.00p +1.58%FTSE 250 - FallersSynergy Health (SYR) 1,877.00p -13.26%De La Rue (DLAR) 502.00p -9.30%Brewin Dolphin Holdings (BRW) 332.60p -5.75%Ophir Energy (OPHR) 127.50p -2.45%Barr (A.G.) (BAG) 609.50p -2.17%PZ Cussons (PZC) 361.00p -2.04%Investec (INVP) 614.50p -1.52%SSP Group (SSPG) 296.00p -1.50%Petra Diamonds Ltd.(DI) (PDL) 171.00p -1.50%Bwin.party Digital Entertainment (BPTY) 107.10p -1.47%