London stocks rose in early trade on Thursday following well-received third-quarter results from US chipmaker and AI bellwether Nvidia, as investors eyed the release of the delayed non-farm payrolls report.
At 0845 GMT, FTSE 100 was up 0.7% at 9,570.13.

Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "Wall Street rallied into the close, and extended the run into after-hours trading, buoyed by Nvidia's upbeat outlook that soothed global jitters and gave investors the green light to pile back into the stock market. Whether the optimism sticks is anyone's guess - predicting market sentiment is as futile as calling the next Fed move.

"Case in point, markets now lean heavily toward no change in US rates through year-end, a stark shift from just a few weeks ago and an underappreciated catalyst for the recent sell-off in risky assets. For now, fundamentals remain the anchor, and by that score, US markets are on solid ground.

"Nvidia bears the weight of the world but, like Atlas, it's standing firm under that towering mountain of expectations. Third quarter results delivered the goods and then some, a 4% beat on the top and bottom line came with a side of more good news in the form of a monster $65 billion revenue guide for the fourth quarter.

"While AI valuations are dominating the news feeds, Nvidia is going about its business in style. There are certainly pockets of the AI space where valuations needed to take a breather, but Nvidia is not in that camp. In fact, while shares have performed well this year, the valuation has gotten more attractive as earnings growth has raced ahead."

Looking ahead to the rest of the day, attention will turn to the long-awaited non-farm payrolls report for September, along with the unemployment rate and average earnings, all due a 1330 GMT.

In equity markets, Games Workshop surged to the top of the FTSE 100 after saying in a very brief update that it expects to report a rise in sales and profit for the six months to 30 November.

Halma also surged as it hailed record first-half results and upgraded its full-year guidance.

CMC Markets rocketed to the top of the FTSE 250 as it lifted its outlook for full-year net operating income after a better-than-expected first half.

On the downside, LondonMetric lost ground even as it delivered a 9.7% increase in EPRA earnings for the six months to September end.

JD Sports was out of fashion as it said full-year pre-tax profit before adjusting items were set to come in at the lower end of market expectations after weakening economic conditions weighed on trading. It blamed rising unemployment levels and softer consumer sentiment in its key markets.

Dr Martens slumped even as the iconic bootmaker said it narrowed first-half losses on the back of higher sales in its key Americas market and held guidance for its 2026 fiscal year despite a headwind from US tariffs.

Paypoint, Senior, Breedon and Mitie all fell after half-year results or trading updates.

Vodafone, National Grid, DCC, B&M and Tate & Lyle all fell as they traded without entitlement to the dividend.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 9,570.13 0.66%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 21,503.21 0.42%
techMARK (TASX) 5,533.29 1.07%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Games Workshop Group (GAW) 17,810.00p 10.69%
Halma (HLMA) 3,656.00p 10.39%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 611.80p 2.34%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 1,091.00p 2.30%
Smiths Group (SMIN) 2,472.00p 2.15%
Flutter Entertainment (DI) (FLTR) 14,980.00p 1.87%
Pershing Square Holdings Ltd NPV (PSH) 4,860.00p 1.67%
Smurfit Westrock (DI) (SWR) 2,600.00p 1.64%
BAE Systems (BA.) 1,752.50p 1.62%
3i Group (III) 3,371.00p 1.54%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Fresnillo (FRES) 2,372.00p -1.58%
LondonMetric Property (LMP) 186.10p -1.43%
Vodafone Group (VOD) 90.50p -1.39%
National Grid (NG.) 1,141.50p -1.25%
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 79.44p -1.19%
DCC (CDI) (DCC) 4,894.00p -0.97%
Diageo (DGE) 1,687.00p -0.88%
Pearson (PSON) 991.40p -0.52%
easyJet (EZJ) 459.70p -0.52%
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 3,760.00p -0.27%

FTSE 250 - Risers

CMC Markets (CMCX) 261.00p 25.78%
Ceres Power Holdings (CWR) 381.00p 4.79%
NCC Group (NCC) 148.00p 4.52%
Trustpilot Group (TRST) 177.70p 3.49%
Polar Capital Technology Trust (PCT) 463.50p 3.34%
Ninety One (N91) 213.40p 2.79%
Allianz Technology Trust (ATT) 526.00p 2.73%
Smithson Investment Trust (SSON) 1,582.00p 2.73%
Raspberry PI Holdings (RPI) 322.60p 2.61%
Renishaw (RSW) 3,455.00p 2.22%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

PayPoint (PAY) 541.00p -16.77%
Foresight Solar Fund Limited (FSFL) 66.00p -6.91%
Dr. Martens (DOCS) 76.70p -6.00%
Senior (SNR) 173.00p -5.88%
Anglo-Eastern Plantations (AEP) 1,300.00p -5.11%
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 2,028.00p -2.87%
Breedon Group (BREE) 308.20p -2.47%
B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 162.40p -2.08%
Mitie Group (MTO) 153.40p -1.92%
3i Infrastructure (3IN) 352.00p -1.54%