London midday: Stocks maintain solid gains as BP rallies on results
London stocks were still firmly in the green by midday on Tuesday as BP rallied on the back of well-received results, while miners also put in a strong performance.
The FTSE 100 was up 1.3% at 7,423.57, with sterling 0.1% firmer against the dollar at 1.3006, back above $1.30 after falling sharply on Monday amid worries about a hard Brexit.
CMC Markets analyst David Madden said the push higher in stock markets was underpinned by gains in Chinese equities, despite "the deepening coronavirus situation".
"The health crisis is spreading as there are in excess of 20,000 confirmed cases in China. Sentiment in equities remains resilient for a second day in a row, but the markets have yet to recoup all the ground that was given up last week, so traders haven’t totally shaken off the health fears," he said.
On home turf, there was some encouraging news on the macroeconomic front after data showed that the UK construction sector improved somewhat in January as demand picked up and optimism increased.
The IHS Markit/CIPS construction activity index rose to 48.4 in January from 44.4 the month before. The figure showed activity falling but at the slowest pace for eight months and significantly better than sharp drops at the end of 2019.
Survey respondents reported increased client demand after the Conservatives' resounding general election victory in December. As a result, construction companies are more positive about growth prospects than at any time since April 2018.
Tim Moore, economics associate director at survey compiler IHS Markit, said: "The construction sector downturn lost intensity in January amid slower reductions in house building, commercial work and civil engineering activity.
"The latest dip in construction output was much shallower than in December, with survey respondents often commenting on improved willingness to spend among clients since the general election."
In equity markets, miners were the standout gainers as copper prices advanced, with Glencore, Antofagasta and Anglo American all up. Glencore was higher even as it reported a 6% fall in copper production for 2019 after the miner and commodities trader shut down its mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Ferguson was the best performer after the plumbing parts distributor said it was considering a primary or additional listing in the US and announced a $500m share buyback.
Oil giant BP followed close behind as it reported better-than-expected full-year results and lifted its dividend despite a weaker price environment that led to a sharp fall in profits.
The company said underlying replacement cost profit, its measure of net profit, for the fourth quarter and full year was $2.6bn and $10bn respectively, compared to $3.5bn and $12.7bn for the same periods a year earlier, reflecting the impact of softer prices. Analysts had expected full-year net profit to come in at $9.7bn.
On the downside, Micro Focus tumbled as it reported a decline in full-year profit and sales and announced the departure of its chairman following what it referred to as a "challenging" year.
Budget airline Wizz Air flew lower after its largest shareholder, private equity firm Indigo Partners, sold 12.45m shares in the company for £500m in an accelerated bookbuild.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,423.57 1.33%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 21,414.75 1.20%
techMARK (TASX) 4,155.48 0.12%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Ferguson (FERG) 7,318.00p 6.06%
Evraz (EVR) 374.90p 5.22%
Glencore (GLEN) 231.95p 4.67%
BP (BP.) 473.20p 4.53%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 864.40p 3.55%
Anglo American (AAL) 2,060.50p 3.42%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 2,566.00p 3.18%
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 2,690.00p 3.03%
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 857.00p 2.88%
Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 614.00p 2.68%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Centrica (CNA) 84.22p -1.70%
Compass Group (CPG) 1,870.50p -0.87%
Severn Trent (SVT) 2,574.00p -0.77%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 997.80p -0.72%
National Grid (NG.) 1,003.00p -0.59%
Polymetal International (POLY) 1,251.00p -0.48%
SSE (SSE) 1,537.50p -0.16%
Meggitt (MGGT) 680.40p -0.15%
SEGRO (SGRO) 912.00p -0.09%
Kingfisher (KGF) 204.90p -0.05%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Vivo Energy (VVO) 111.40p 6.10%
Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 467.80p 5.84%
PureTech Health (PRTC) 299.00p 4.91%
Hunting (HTG) 311.40p 4.85%
Electrocomponents (ECM) 703.00p 4.74%
ICG Enterprise Trust (ICGT) 964.00p 4.33%
QinetiQ Group (QQ.) 371.20p 4.21%
Wood Group (John) (WG.) 379.60p 4.14%
Fidelity China Special Situations (FCSS) 233.00p 4.02%
Elementis (ELM) 133.00p 3.99%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Micro Focus International (MCRO) 808.80p -18.01%
Future (FUTR) 1,280.00p -3.90%
Avast (AVST) 435.20p -1.94%
Pennon Group (PNN) 1,109.00p -1.29%
Ultra Electronics Holdings (ULE) 2,224.00p -0.54%
Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 4,140.00p -0.48%
Senior (SNR) 166.80p -0.42%
IntegraFin Holding (IHP) 508.00p -0.39%
Domino's Pizza Group (DOM) 310.90p -0.35%
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 475.40p -0.17%