London close: Shares bounce despite steady tone in Sterling

London stocks finished on a mixed note, with the top-flight index staging a small bounce even as the pound regained some composure but with the FTSE 250 clobbered by a spate of profit warnings.

The FTSE 100 was up by 0.48% or 33.31 points to 7,029.22, although at one point during the session it dropped below the 7,000 mark to sit at six-month lows.

In parallel, the second-tier index dropped 0.90% or 170.0 points o 18,803.45. Meanwhile, sterling was little changed at $1.31605 and down 0.21% versus the euro at 1.1354, after it emerged that weekend Brexit negotiations between Dominic Raab and the EU's chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, failed to yield any breakthroughs, with the Irish border still the main bone of contention.

The pound finished well-off its intraday lows, of 1.3082, after British foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt told reporters in Luxembourg: "There are one or two very difficult outstanding issues, but I think we can get there."

He added: "Everyone is trying incredibly hard. I think it is possible to do it and I think with goodwill on both sides we can get there."

Investors will now be eyeing the EU summit in Belgium on Wednesday for any further developments.

Oanda analyst Craig Erlam said: "The pound is holding up relatively well despite the stalled progress over the weekend. The currency is likely to remain rather volatile over the coming weeks as talks continue and we see increasing amounts of commentary being leaked, not to mention more pressure on the May following reports that more letters of no confidence being submitted, taking the total number to 44, four short of the number required to trigger a vote."

In commodity markets, oil prices came off their highs of the session despite the growing tensions between the US and Saudi Arabia following the disappearance of prominent Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who has been missing since his visit to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul earlier this month. Brent crude was -0.01% weaker at $80.37 a barrel on the ICE.

Dragging on Brent futures and also providing a lift for the pound, the US Department of Commerce revealed on Monday that US retail sales volumes edged higher by just 0.1% month-on-month in September, missing forecasts for a rise of 0.7%.

Commenting on those numbers, Andrew Hunter at Capital Economics said: "Overall, the current strength of underlying retail spending reflects the continued boost to incomes from the tax cuts enacted at the start of the year.

"That said, sales growth looks most likely to slow in the fourth quarter as that boost starts to fade, and we still expect a more marked slowdown in real consumption growth over the course of next year."

Back in the UK, a survey released by Rightmove earlier showed that UK house prices rose 1% on the month in October, up from a 0.7% increase in September but marking the lowest monthly rate of increase at this time of year since 2010.

On the year, house prices were 0.9% higher this month, down from a 1.2% rise in September and marking the lowest annual rate since February 2012.

Retail footfall in September, meanwhile, was down 1.7% year-on-year, slightly worse that August’s fall of 1.6%, according to a survey from the British Retail Consortium. High streets visits declined for the second month in a row, while shopping centres saw decreases for the 18th month in a row, while retail parks remained in growth but only just.

FTSE 250 hit by profit warnings

In corporate news, convenience food manufacturer Greencore reversed earlier gains to trade sharply lower after striking a deal to sell its entire US business for $1.1bn (£817m) and return a chunk of the cash to shareholders. The Dublin-headquartered, FTSE 250-listed outfit said it would return £509m, or 72p per share, of the £802m net proceeds to shareholders, if they approve the deal.

Fashion brand Superdry was sharply lower alongside after warning that profits for the financial year 2019 would be down around £10m due to unseasonably hot weather and unexpected foreign exchange costs.

Outpacing that fall, Convatec tumbled by over 30% as it warned on profits and announced the retirement of chief executive officer Paul Moraviec.

On the upside, Polymetal rose after increasing its stake in the Veduga gold deposit in Russia to 74.3% while precious metals miners Randgold Resources and Fresnillo rallied as gold prices hit their highest lev

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,029.22 0.48%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 18,803.45 -0.90%
techMARK (TASX) 3,278.83 0.44%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 6,082.00p 5.15%
Paddy Power Betfair (PPB) 6,305.00p 4.57%
Fresnillo (FRES) 913.00p 4.08%
Imperial Brands (IMB) 2,587.00p 2.80%
BT Group (BT.A) 242.40p 2.76%
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,463.60p 2.39%
SSE (SSE) 1,137.00p 1.93%
Pearson (PSON) 792.40p 1.90%
Unilever (ULVR) 4,003.50p 1.84%
Just Eat (JE.) 620.60p 1.84%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

BAE Systems (BA.) 561.80p -3.83%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 789.80p -2.88%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 166.40p -2.84%
Rightmove (RMV) 425.50p -1.92%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 292.80p -1.91%
Standard Life Aberdeen (SLA) 269.60p -1.86%
Schroders (SDR) 2,791.00p -1.76%
Associated British Foods (ABF) 2,266.00p -1.73%
SEGRO (SGRO) 593.40p -1.72%
Persimmon (PSN) 2,211.00p -1.69%

FTSE 250 - Risers

TalkTalk Telecom Group (TALK) 118.50p 4.22%
Nex Group (NXG) 1,051.00p 3.98%
Lancashire Holdings Limited (LRE) 556.50p 3.73%
Softcat (SCT) 750.00p 3.45%
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 1,716.00p 3.25%
Computacenter (CCC) 1,224.00p 3.03%
Premier Oil (PMO) 128.07p 2.98%
IWG (IWG) 218.30p 2.97%
Sanne Group (SNN) 594.00p 2.78%
Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 2,525.00p 2.73%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Convatec Group (CTEC) 147.00p -33.10%
Superdry (SDRY) 800.00p -21.18%
Greencore Group (GNC) 187.90p -8.87%
TBC Bank Group (TBCG) 1,590.00p -4.59%
Babcock International Group (BAB) 627.00p -4.13%
Quilter (QLT) 118.18p -4.03%
FDM Group (Holdings) (FDM) 862.00p -4.01%
On The Beach Group (OTB) 431.00p -3.80%
CYBG (CYBG) 276.60p -3.49%
Renishaw (RSW) 4,008.00p -3.28%

els since July.

In broker note action, Spectris was upgraded to 'buy' at Bank of America Merrill Lynch while IMI was downgraded to 'neutral'.