FTSE 100 made a decent start despite the carnage among US tech stocks overnight where Tesla led a fall by Nasdaq of almost 4%. London’s blue chips in contrast were up 9 at 7,395 in early trades.
Tesla lost $126 billion in value on Tuesday over investor concerns that Elon Musk may have to sell shares to fund the buyout of Twitter. Shares in Tesla fell 12% yesterday.
Lloyds Banking was a riser as it enhanced its guidance for the year after first quarter underlying profits grew by 26% to £2bn. Revenue growth outpaced cost increases with the top line buoyed by a continued recovery in customer activity.
WH Smith returned to profit as the company continues to benefit from a return of passengers to airports. The company made a profit before tax of £18mln for the six months to February.
Anglo Pacific reported record income for the third consecutive quarter as the royalty company benefited from strong cobalt and metallurgical coal prices. It posted a first-quarter portfolio contribution of US$43.6mln, more than four times higher than a year ago.
LoopUp has won a contract for its Hybridium technology worth a minimum of €200,000 from Spanish telecoms company Telefónica. The initial two-year deal has potential for expansion and extension, the cloud telephony company said in a statement.
Empyrean Energy said it will reassess all the drill data from its Jade prospect offshore China after the well log indicated no oil in the target reservoir. Tom Kelly, chief executive, said: "We are extremely disappointed with the results of the well.”