London midday: Stocks hug the flatline as investors mull borrowing figures

London stocks continued to crawl slothlike along the flatline by midday on Friday as investors sifted through some corporate news, digested the latest government borrowing figures and a stronger pound offset gains for miners from improving commodities prices.

The FTSE 100 was flat at 7,485.37, while the pound was up 0.2% against the dollar at 1.300. Against the euro, the pound was up 0.1% at 1.1161, recovering from an eight-month low hit earlier as traders bet that the European Central Bank will start tapering asset purchases next year, despite dovish comments from Mario Draghi on Thursday.

On the data front, figures from the Office for National Statistics showed UK public sector net borrowing rose more than expected in June as inflation meant the government had to pay more interest on its debt.

Borrowing in April to June was up £1.9bn from the same period a year ago to £22.8bn. Meanwhile, borrowing in June rose by £2bn to £6.9bn compared to the same month last year, above consensus of £4.2bn.

The ONS said it expects borrowing to come in at £58.3bm in the financial year ending March 2018.

Public sector net debt, excluding both public sector banks and Bank of England, stood at £1.62trn at the end of June, equivalent to 80.9% of gross domestic product and up £41.9bn on June 2016.

Pantheon Macroeconomics said higher borrowing cast doubt on Chancellor Philip Hammond’s scope to ease austerity.

In corporate news, Vodafone rose as it reported improved growth in the first few months of its new financial year thanks to strong growth in the Africa, Middle East and Asia Pacific (AMAP) region.

Paysafe surged as it struck a $470m deal to acquire US-based Merchants' Choice Payment and also received an 590p-a-share takeover proposal from private equity companies Blackstone and CVC Capital Partners.

Merchant bank Close Brothers was on the front foot after saying it remains confident of a “good result” for the current financial year as it has continued to perform well across all divisions.

Online electrical goods retailer AO World gained ground as it reported 2.5% growth in UK revenue for the three months to the end of June despite a challenging trading environment.

Banks, led by Barclays, were lower as expectations for interest rate hikes eased.

Beazley edged lower despite its interim results beating expectations, while Euromoney fell despite its third-quarter revenue growth coming in largely as expected.

Homeserve retreated after saying trading in the period from 1 April to 20 July was in line with its expectations.

Acacia Mining slid as it said it is now targeting the lower end of its full-year production guidance after first-half results were dented by Tanzania’s ban on the its concentrates exports.

Paddy Power Betfair was in the red after Investec downgraded the stock to ‘sell’ from ‘buy’ on the back of lower forecasts and a deteriorating regulatory outlook in the UK and Australia.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,485.37 -0.03%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,759.13 -0.02%
techMARK (TASX) 3,533.60 0.02%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Convatec Group (CTEC) 312.60p 1.46%
Vodafone Group (VOD) 227.50p 1.16%
Direct Line Insurance Group (DLG) 377.70p 1.07%
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 2,913.00p 0.87%
Next (NXT) 3,812.00p 0.77%
3i Group (III) 934.50p 0.75%
Prudential (PRU) 1,798.00p 0.59%
Whitbread (WTB) 3,949.00p 0.59%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 5,456.00p 0.57%
Shire Plc (SHP) 4,103.50p 0.56%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

easyJet (EZJ) 1,279.00p -4.12%
Paddy Power Betfair (PPB) 7,405.00p -3.89%
Smiths Group (SMIN) 1,576.00p -1.99%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 585.50p -1.60%
GKN (GKN) 327.60p -1.36%
TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 1,197.00p -1.32%
Smurfit Kappa Group (SKG) 2,327.00p -1.23%
Barclays (BARC) 205.80p -1.15%
Micro Focus International (MCRO) 2,227.00p -1.11%
Royal Mail (RMG) 393.70p -1.11%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Paysafe Group (PAYS) 580.00p 7.01%
Sports Direct International (SPD) 349.00p 4.15%
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 1,418.00p 2.68%
IG Group Holdings (IGG) 654.00p 2.43%
Ladbrokes Coral Group (LCL) 118.70p 2.42%
Sanne Group (SNN) 693.00p 2.06%
Victrex plc (VCT) 1,945.00p 1.94%
TalkTalk Telecom Group (TALK) 187.40p 1.74%
PayPoint (PAY) 876.50p 1.68%
Synthomer (SYNT) 496.10p 1.66%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Acacia Mining (ACA) 261.10p -7.02%
Carillion (CLLN) 61.00p -4.98%
Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 2,515.00p -3.71%
OneSavings Bank (OSB) 385.60p -3.02%
Moneysupermarket.com Group (MONY) 342.70p -2.20%
Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 1,092.00p -2.15%
Balfour Beatty (BBY) 268.60p -2.08%
Aldermore Group (ALD) 223.80p -2.01%
Capital & Counties Properties (CAPC) 305.40p -1.86%
Metro Bank (MTRO) 3,515.00p -1.71%