FTSE 100 Live: London stocks concede early, Currys serves up tasty returns

London’s FTSE 100 started the session with early softness, trading around 10,474.6 in the first 15 minutes, down roughly 4 points before fluctuating. The index’s laggards included Polar Capital Tech Trust and Scottish Mortgage, both lower by about 2.3% and 1.6%, while RELX, Spirax, HSBC and Standard Chartered were down more than 1%. Some of the early movement was attributed to a handful of stocks going ex-dividend, including retailer Next, JD Sports, Games Workshop and F&C Investment Trust. On the rise were grocers Sainsbury’s and Tesco, along with Associated British Foods, gaining around 1.8%. Earlier corporate news featured Halma, which announced two healthcare acquisitions totaling £54 million: Itemedical for €23 million (about £20 million) and Naslund Medical for $45 million (about £34 million), funded from existing facilities. Currys also reported adjusted pre-tax profit up 18% to £191 million on revenue up 6% to £9.25 billion, doubling its dividend and launching a £50 million buyback. In oil and gas, Genel Energy agreed a recommended cash offer for Capricorn Energy worth around $360 million.