The FTSE 100 made a modest start to what is a big week for UK company earnings kicking off with BP tomorrow.
London’s blue-chip index was up 9 at 7,525 in early trades.
House prices hit a new record in January, but the rate of growth is slowing suggested the latest survey from the Halifax Building Society. Prices rose 0.3% to £276,759 against gains of 1% in each of the previous four months.
The worst of surging food prices is "yet to come" with a potential 5% hike in spring, Tesco’s chairman said. John Allan advised people also to keep bread in the fridge and ignore some sell-by dates.
Australian bank Macquarie Group is in talks with Downing Street officials over £10bn investment in British infrastructure. The investment would be one of the largest in history by an overseas company and will mainly be renewable energy investments.
Among the small caps, Cobra Resources reported further gold mineralisation within the northern drill transect confirming the potential for a significant gold mineral system at Clarke in Australia. Additional rare earth elements were intercepted above and proximal to the gold interceptions.
Oil explorer Pantheon Resources shares were up 16% after it received expectation-beating flow test results for the Talitha A vertical test well in Alaska. Oil flowed in tests on three separate reservoir intervals.
Immupharma said dosing will begin later this month for its Lupuzor treatment to assess how a new formulation of the lupus treatment interacts with the body. The study in 24 healthy male volunteers will get underway on February 15.