London midday: FTSE and pound recovers in wake of Brexit

The FTSE 100 and the pound recovered on Tuesday from two days of falls after Britain voted to leave the European Union.

London’s top tier index rose 2.48% to 6,130.56 at 1202 BST while the pound rose 0.90% against the dollar to $1.33.

Investors seemed to shrug off downgrades to the UK economy’s credit rating by S&P, Fitch and Moody’s and a post-Brexit warning from chancellor George Osborne on tax increases and spending cuts.

“The FTSE’s unwillingness to stay below 6000 is remarkable, and while the damage to individual shares is still immense, some of that has been repaired today,” said Chris Beauchamp, senior market analyst at IG.

“A bounce was overdue, of course, and it doesn’t change the short-term narrative of uncertainty and fear, nor the longer-term bear market in equities that has been ticking along for over a year now.“

Meanwhile, an industry survey showed UK retail sales growth slowed ahead of last Thursday’s EU referendum. The Confederation of British Industry’s monthly retail sales balance for June fell to +5 from +7 in May. The survey was conducted between 26 May and 14 June.

Still to come, US GDP at 1130 BST, the S&P/Case Shiller Home Price Index at 1400 BST and the US consumer confidence index at 1500 BST.

Company-wise, Legal & General surged after announcing the appointment of former Second Permanent Secretary of HM Treasury, Sir John Kingman, as group chairman.

Property companies also gained, including British Land, Taylor Wimpey and Land Securities, recovering from falls in the Brexit aftermath.

Old Mutual edged higher even as it said underlying businesses may be affected by the UK's vote to leave the EU.

Online grocer Ocado jumped as it said revenue and earnings grew in the first half of the year.

Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group rallied following reports the government will stall the sale of its stakes in the banks in the wake of Brexit.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 6,128.71 2.45%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 15,390.84 2.83%
techMARK (TASX) 3,025.24 2.40%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Prudential (PRU) 1,219.50p 10.36%
Next (NXT) 4,802.00p 9.53%
Legal & General Group (LGEN) 178.50p 8.18%
Associated British Foods (ABF) 2,526.00p 7.49%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 977.50p 7.42%
Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 1,124.00p 6.44%
British Land Company (BLND) 586.50p 6.35%
Aviva (AV.) 367.40p 6.12%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 54.09p 5.75%
Capita (CPI) 896.00p 5.60%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Fresnillo (FRES) 1,401.00p -5.53%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 7,810.00p -2.80%
Kingfisher (KGF) 314.30p -0.13%
Carnival (CCL) 3,261.00p -0.09%
Rexam (REX) 640.00p -0.00%
Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 1,925.00p 0.13%
Worldpay Group (WI) (WPG) 258.60p 0.43%
Paddy Power Betfair (PPB) 8,095.00p 0.43%
ARM Holdings (ARM) 1,033.00p 0.49%
Royal Dutch Shell 'A' (RDSA) 1,916.50p 0.50%

FTSE 250 - Risers

IP Group (IPO) 136.00p 12.96%
AO World (AO.) 134.20p 11.37%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 229.40p 10.24%
TR Property Inv Trust (TRY) 265.30p 9.76%
G4S (GFS) 179.90p 9.70%
Paysafe Group (PAYS) 369.50p 9.35%
Circassia Pharmaceuticals (CIR) 89.10p 8.33%
Tritax Big Box Reit (BBOX) 123.90p 8.02%
Stagecoach Group (SGC) 212.90p 7.80%
Howden Joinery Group (HWDN) 367.00p 7.59%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Shawbrook Group (SHAW) 145.10p -11.04%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 123.00p -5.46%
Acacia Mining (ACA) 418.50p -4.89%
Polypipe Group (PLP) 242.60p -3.81%
Dunelm Group (DNLM) 762.50p -2.18%
SSP Group (SSPG) 276.40p -2.09%
Countrywide (CWD) 246.00p -1.60%
Pets at Home Group (PETS) 220.40p -1.52%
Telecom Plus (TEP) 962.50p -1.23%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 388.20p -1.22%