London midday: Stocks in the red as inflation concerns weigh
London stocks had fallen further into the red by midday on Wednesday amid concerns about rising inflation after the latest set of figures from China and ahead of US data later in the week.
The FTSE 100 was down 0.6% at 7,054.79.
Oanda market analyst Sophie Griffiths said: "Few investors are willing to take on big positions ahead of tomorrow's double risk whammy - the European Central Bank rate decision and US CPI inflation data.
"There are plenty of signs to suggest that inflationary pressures are building. Friday's NFP revealed a weaker than expected headline number, but average wages rose by more than forecast.
"Yesterday's JOLTs job openings revealed a record 9.3 million openings, up one million over the month. With eight million fewer people in the workforce than pre-pandemic, wages may well need to be lifted to encourage them to return."
In addition, data released earlier by the National Bureau of Statistics showed that China’s producer price inflation jumped to 9% in May from 6.8% in April, marking the highest rate since 2008 and coming in above consensus expectations of 8.5%. Meanwhile, CPI rose to 1.3% in May from 0.9% in April, compared to expectations of 1.6%.
In equity markets, housebuilders were under pressure, with Persimmon, Barratt Developments, Berkeley, Crest Nicholson and Redrow all lower.
Upper Crust owner SSP was under the cosh after it reported wider interim losses as Covid travel restrictions saw most of its outlets closed, but said it had seen an improvement in trading in the UK and North America since the end of March.
On the upside, travel stocks rallied after the European Union approved vaccine passports. British Airways and Iberia owner IAG flew higher even after the Competition and Markets Authority said it will be investigating BA as it may have broken consumer law by not offering refunds to customers who couldn’t legally take flights during the pandemic.
InterContinental Hotels, engine maker Rolls-Royce, budget airlines easyJet and Wizz Air and cruise operator Carnival all gained.
Airlines were also benefiting from news that the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has relaxed travel advice for more than 110 countries and territories.
Elsewhere, artificial hip and knee maker Smith & Nephew rose after an upgrade to ‘outperform’ at Credit Suisse.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,054.79 -0.57%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 22,756.59 -0.61%
techMARK (TASX) 4,387.54 -0.18%
FTSE 100 - Risers
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 205.20p 3.63%
Just Eat Takeaway.Com N.V. (CDI) (JET) 6,787.00p 3.16%
Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,506.50p 2.31%
Compass Group (CPG) 1,647.00p 1.17%
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 5,220.00p 1.05%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 8,011.00p 0.96%
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,362.00p 0.75%
Associated British Foods (ABF) 2,348.00p 0.60%
Flutter Entertainment (CDI) (FLTR) 13,795.00p 0.58%
Bunzl (BNZL) 2,293.00p 0.57%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Intermediate Capital Group (ICP) 2,201.00p -3.59%
Persimmon (PSN) 3,123.00p -3.13%
Evraz (EVR) 624.80p -2.92%
Phoenix Group Holdings (PHNX) 716.20p -2.29%
Aviva (AV.) 412.40p -2.23%
Schroders (SDR) 3,572.00p -2.22%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,522.50p -2.15%
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 4,600.00p -2.15%
Barclays (BARC) 181.32p -2.07%
Renishaw (RSW) 5,435.00p -2.07%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Just Eat Takeaway.Com N.V. (CDI) (JET) 6,787.00p 3.16%
easyJet (EZJ) 995.80p 2.98%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 59.82p 2.64%
Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 4,765.00p 2.30%
Carnival (CCL) 1,876.80p 1.37%
FirstGroup (FGP) 83.10p 1.28%
LXI Reit (LXI) 145.00p 1.26%
Domino's Pizza Group (DOM) 389.20p 1.25%
Hammerson (HMSO) 42.77p 1.21%
Sanne Group (SNN) 771.00p 1.18%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Paragon Banking Group (PAG) 542.50p -4.74%
Crest Nicholson Holdings (CRST) 440.80p -3.50%
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 2,098.00p -2.96%
Redrow (RDW) 665.20p -2.89%
Bellway (BWY) 3,500.00p -2.78%
Close Brothers Group (CBG) 1,599.00p -2.50%
Just Group (JUST) 98.05p -2.44%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 177.00p -2.37%
Vesuvius (VSVS) 561.50p -2.35%
Countryside Properties (CSP) 484.40p -2.34%