London midday: FTSE flat as Whitbread weighs

London stocks were still hugging the flatline by midday, with Whitbread on the slide after a disappointing set of interim results.

The FTSE 100 was flat at 7,523.27, while the pound was down 0.2% against the euro at 1.1207 and 0.1% lower versus the dollar 1.318.

Sterling was coming under pressure as further doubt was cast over the likeliness of a November rate rise thanks to comments from Bank of England deputy governor Jon Cunliffe.

Speaking on a trip to Wales, Cunliffe told the Western Mail that while interest rates are sure to be higher in three years’ time, there’s no guarantee that the first hike in a decade is imminent.

“Coming off the back of Theresa May’s declaration that significant progress is being made in Brexit negotiations, Cunliffe’s declaration that a November rate hike remains an ‘open question’ has put some pressure on sterling,” said IG analyst Joshua Mahony.

There are no major UK data releases due on Tuesday, but Wednesday sees the release of third-quarter GDP data and BBA mortgage approvals.

In corporate news, Whitbread was under the cosh after first-half results showed evidence of a bit of a summer slowdown, with revenues at its Premier Inn hotels and Costa Coffee arms both softening but tight cost control percolating through to a solid profit performance.

St James's Place edged higher as it posted £2.36nbn of net inflows of new funds under management for the three months to the end of September compared to £1.66bn in the same period one year ago.

Saga nudged up as it said chairman Andrew Goodsell intends to retire next year.

Distribution and outsourcing group Bunzl slipped despite reporting a rise in third-quarter revenue as it continues to eye further acquisitions.

International service company Serco rallied as it reached agreement to acquire BTP Systems - a provider of satellite communication and radar engineering technical services to the US defence industry and signed heads of terms to acquire a portfolio of selected UK health facilities management contracts from Carillion.

Hunting gushed higher after saying it expects a modest profit for the year as revenue rose in third quarter.

Carillion surged after agreeing to sell a large part of its UK healthcare facilities management business to Serco for £50.1m, and announcing new financing and contract wins.

Weir advanced as RBC Capital Markets lifted it to ‘outperform’, while Pendragon fell again after its profit warning on Monday, as Berenberg and Liberum downgraded their ratings on the stocks.

RSA Insurance was boosted by an upgrade to ‘overweight’ in a note from JPMorgan, which also sent Admiral and Esure packing with downgrades.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,528.60 0.06%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,121.27 -0.05%
techMARK (TASX) 3,533.59 -0.33%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Pearson (PSON) 706.50p 1.58%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,017.00p 1.40%
Glencore (GLEN) 384.95p 1.37%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 774.40p 0.87%
Hammerson (HMSO) 525.50p 0.86%
St James's Place (STJ) 1,179.00p 0.77%
Royal Dutch Shell 'A' (RDSA) 2,330.50p 0.76%
BP (BP.) 494.45p 0.71%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 67.43p 0.64%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 1,898.00p 0.64%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Whitbread (WTB) 3,744.00p -5.02%
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 3,401.00p -2.02%
WPP (WPP) 1,343.00p -1.68%
Merlin Entertainments (MERL) 367.90p -1.60%
easyJet (EZJ) 1,300.00p -1.52%
Prudential (PRU) 1,857.50p -1.46%
Centrica (CNA) 172.90p -1.43%
Smiths Group (SMIN) 1,552.00p -1.34%
Mondi (MNDI) 1,860.00p -1.27%
Mediclinic International (MDC) 616.00p -1.20%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Hunting (HTG) 496.70p 8.76%
Serco Group (SRP) 118.80p 2.24%
TalkTalk Telecom Group (TALK) 206.00p 1.83%
Redrow (RDW) 651.50p 1.56%
Go-Ahead Group (GOG) 1,752.00p 1.51%
Capital & Counties Properties (CAPC) 258.90p 1.49%
Telecom Plus (TEP) 1,207.00p 1.43%
Assura (AGR) 61.40p 1.32%
Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 422.90p 1.29%
Virgin Money Holdings (UK) (VM.) 297.50p 1.26%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

esure Group (ESUR) 266.10p -3.06%
Restaurant Group (RTN) 292.00p -2.70%
Provident Financial (PFG) 908.00p -2.26%
Greencore Group (GNC) 190.00p -2.21%
Workspace Group (WKP) 864.50p -2.10%
Sophos Group (SOPH) 591.50p -1.99%
Evraz (EVR) 320.10p -1.81%
Investec (INVP) 548.00p -1.79%
Softcat (SCT) 507.00p -1.74%
Woodford Patient Capital Trust (WPCT) 88.70p -1.44%