London open: FTSE gains after Nasdaq record close; Informa jumps on acquisition

(Sharecast News) - London stocks rose in early trade on Tuesday following a solid session on Wall Street, where the Nasdaq hit a closing high. At 0855 BST, the FTSE 100 was 0.8% firmer at 10,585.76, while Brent crude was down 0.8% at $99.53 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate was 1.2% lower at $88.35.

Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor, said: "The Nasdaq hit a new record high as the buying frenzy around tech continued unabated even as bond yields rose again.

"The latest surge in the Nasdaq was typified by further strength in the AI trade, with market darling - and heavyweight - Nvidia rising by 2% and Tesla, Meta Platforms and Microsoft by a similar amount, while SpaceX added more than 7% as it continues to claw back some of its post-IPO weakness.

"Nor was this strength confined to the tech-heavy index, with the Dow Jones moving to within 0.2% of its recent record high and the benchmark S&P500 0.3%, bringing the gains in the year to date to 6.7% for the Dow, 13.6% for the S&P and 18.2% for the Nasdaq. The rising tide has lifted other boats, such as the Russell 2000 which has added 13.5% so far this year despite the higher borrowing costs which tend to affect smaller companies in growth mode, while a 9.5% gain for the S&P500 equal weight index is a further reflection of broad equity strength ahead of the imminent third quarter earnings season."

In equity markets, Informa shot up as it announced the acquisition of event and exhibition organiser Clarion from private equity firm Blackstone for £2.24bn, and said it was planning to separate its academic business, Taylor & Francis, to focus on its core B2B business.

Chief executive Stephen A. Carter said: "The combination will underscore Informa as the UK-listed, international leader in B2B Live Events, with annual group revenues exceeding $6bn and underlying revenue growth of 7%."

Elsewhere, shipping broker Clarksons rallied after saying it expects full-year earnings of at least £135m, citing Iran war-related volatility.

Telecom Plus rose after saying it delivered encouraging early progress against its new five‑year growth plan and reiterating FY27 guidance for adjusted pre-tax profit of between £80m and £90m.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 10,585.76 0.84% FTSE 250 (MCX) 24,266.35 0.59% techMARK (TASX) 6,185.65 0.60%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Informa (INF) 886.00p 2.99% Weir (WEIR) 2,648.00p 2.63% Relx plc (REL) 2,598.00p 2.33% AstraZeneca (AZN) 12,000.00p 2.28% Barratt Redrow (BTRW) 315.60p 2.14% Lion Finance Group (BGEO) 13,530.00p 2.03% Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 383.60p 1.99% Imperial Brands (IMB) 2,496.00p 1.96% Whitbread (WTB) 2,473.00p 1.77% Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,023.00p 1.74%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

BP (BP.) 557.50p -0.89% BAE Systems (BA.) 1,918.00p -0.67% M&G (MNG) 311.30p -0.64% Fresnillo (FRES) 2,732.00p -0.62% Babcock International Group (BAB) 919.40p -0.54% Ithaca Energy (ITH) 279.80p -0.53% Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 4,236.00p -0.14% IG Group Holdings (IGG) 984.50p -0.10% Intertek Group (ITRK) 5,880.00p -0.08% BT Group (BT.A) 198.60p -0.08%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Clarkson (CKN) 5,385.00p 6.44% Telecom Plus (TEP) 862.00p 4.73% HGCapital Trust (HGT) 389.50p 4.42% Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) 229.00p 4.09% Domino's Pizza Group (DOM) 219.40p 3.30% Oxford Biomedica (OXB) 558.00p 3.12% Ocado Group (OCDO) 264.20p 3.12% NCC Group (NCC) 149.80p 3.03% Man Group (EMG) 331.20p 2.86% Foresight Group Holdings Limited NPV (FSG) 456.00p 2.70%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Inchcape (INCH) 703.00p -3.55% RHI Magnesita N.V. (DI) (RHIM) 2,815.00p -3.30% Ceres Power Holdings (CWR) 405.60p -2.17% Baltic Classifieds Group (BCG) 1.98p -2.08% Schroder Oriental Income Fund Ltd. (SOI) 455.00p -1.52% Harbour Energy (HBR) 268.60p -1.32% Ashoka India Equity Investment Trust (AIE) 240.00p -1.23% Chemring Group (CHG) 527.00p -1.03% Watches of Switzerland Group (WOSG) 658.50p -0.83% Genus (GNS) 2,100.00p -0.75%