London midday: Stocks nudge lower as miners drop on China data; StanChart shines

London stocks had slipped into the red by midday on Tuesday, with miners under the cosh after disappointing Chinese data and as uninspiring updates from the likes of Whitbread and Glencore offset solid results from Standard Chartered.

The FTSE 100 was 0.1% lower at 7,433.22, as sterling gained ground against the dollar, which took a hit after White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow called on the Federal Reserve to cut rates amid soft inflation. The pound was up 0.4% against the greenback at 1.2993 and 0.3% firmer versus the euro at 1.1594.

Investors were digesting the latest data out of China, which fell short of expectations and revealed a softer start to the second quarter.

The official manufacturing PMI fell to 50.1 in April from 50.5 in March, missing expectations for an unchanged reading.

Meanwhile, the official non-manufacturing PMI also fell, to 54.3 from 54.8.m, with the sub-index for the services sector edging down and a sharp decline in the sub-index for construction.

Capital Economics said: "Admittedly, we are wary of putting too much weight on the official PMIs given that they have provided false signals in the past.

"We will have a better idea of how the economy has performed recently when the April reading of the Caixin manufacturing PMI, a better guide to cyclical trends than the official index, is published on Thursday. But for now, the official PMIs suggest that Q2 got off to a weaker start and reinforce our view that there are still some downside risks to near-term activity."

On home turf, the latest survey from GfK showed consumer confidence remained steady at April. The long-running consumer confidence index came in at -13, unchanged from March.

Joe Staton, client strategy director at Gfk, said: "We reported a -13 headline for the past three months and it appears it’s a case of ‘Keep Calm’ when it comes to how confident consumers are feeling right now.

"Despite political carry-on in the Westminster bubble with the clock ticking on Britain’s eventual departure from the EU, consumers are holding firm and remain unshaken by the daily headlines of turmoil and intrigue, although we remain in negative territory."

In equity markets, Micro Focus tanked as its stock went ex-dividend.

Glencore retreated as it cut its full-year copper production guidance after posting a 7% drop in first-quarter output due to several factors, including flooding in Australia and safety-related stoppages and smelter outages in Zambia.

Mining stocks were weaker in general after the Chinese manufacturing figures, with Rio, BHP and Anglo American all lower.

Premier Inn owner Whitbread was also in the red as it posted a 39% drop in full-year profit and highlighted market weakness across both business and leisure.

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: "A weak fourth quarter, a gloomy start to the new financial year and a cautious outlook isn’t a great situation to be in. It is understandable that Whitbread’s investors might be disappointed with the situation yet it isn’t reason to start panicking about the business.

"There is often fluctuating demand for hotel rooms and operators need to be flexible with pricing in order to keep occupancy levels as high as possible.

"Brexit uncertainty is clearly affecting demand, particularly from business travellers, yet that could only be a temporary phenomenon.

"Whitbread’s model of affordable rooms in a broad spread of locations should serve it well when consumer and business confidence starts to improve."

Sirius Minerals suffered heavy losses as it launched a heavily-discounted $3.8bn capital raising to fund the development of its Woodsmith potash project in Yorkshire and posted a narrowing of its full-year losses.

Specialty chemicals company Elementis slid after saying it expects further progress this year, albeit slightly below expectations, as global market conditions remains "challenging".

Shares in pub group Greene King fizzed lower after a trading statement, with analysts noting that sales momentum slowed towards the end of FY19. Peer EI Group was also lower.

On the upside, Asia-focused lender Standard Chartered shone as it posted a 10% jump in adjusted pre-tax profits to $1.38bn, beating the $1.1bn anticipated by analysts at UBS. It also unveiled a $1.0bn share repurchase programme.

Oil major BP edged up as it reported better-than-expected first-quarter profits and cash flows, together with higher output. Underlying replacement cost profit for the first three months of 2019 fell to $2.36bn from $2.57bn in the comparable year ago period, driven by lower prices and margins, although "strong" supply and trading results acted as a partial offset.

That was better than the company compiled consensus for $2.3bn.

In broker note action, Rightmove was knocked lower by a downgrade to 'hold' from 'buy' at Deutsche Bank.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,433.22 -0.10%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,869.55 -0.21%
techMARK (TASX) 3,624.84 -0.01%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Standard Chartered (STAN) 703.00p 5.02%
Fresnillo (FRES) 757.80p 2.32%
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 1,755.50p 1.65%
Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 220.00p 1.43%
BP (BP.) 558.70p 1.12%
Phoenix Group Holdings (PHNX) 725.00p 0.82%
Rentokil Initial (RTO) 390.16p 0.82%
Informa (INF) 782.80p 0.77%
Royal Dutch Shell 'A' (RDSA) 2,448.00p 0.74%
Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 2,466.50p 0.71%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Micro Focus International (MCRO) 1,934.20p -16.45%
Glencore (GLEN) 301.10p -3.66%
Whitbread (WTB) 4,581.00p -3.64%
Smith (DS) (SMDS) 361.10p -3.11%
Smurfit Kappa Group (SKG) 2,279.00p -2.81%
TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 849.00p -2.03%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,977.60p -1.73%
Mondi (MNDI) 1,691.50p -1.69%
NMC Health (NMC) 2,856.73p -1.59%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 4,444.00p -1.43%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Funding Circle Holdings (FCH) 265.86p 6.99%
Cairn Energy (CNE) 175.00p 5.61%
FirstGroup (FGP) 111.10p 4.61%
Polypipe Group (PLP) 447.40p 3.85%
Amigo Holdings (AMGO) 249.00p 3.53%
Tate & Lyle (TATE) 754.80p 2.81%
Premier Oil (PMO) 100.85p 2.64%
Contour Global (GLO) 217.00p 2.60%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 207.60p 2.57%
Provident Financial (PFG) 529.60p 1.96%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Sirius Minerals (SXX) 18.14p -17.18%
Elementis (ELM) 161.68p -8.71%
Greene King (GNK) 642.20p -7.28%
EI Group (EIG) 211.60p -5.03%
Intu Properties (INTU) 95.34p -3.37%
Weir Group (WEIR) 1,671.00p -3.07%
CYBG (CYBG) 205.10p -2.75%
Mitchells & Butlers (MAB) 257.00p -2.10%
Saga (SAGA) 58.45p -1.85%
GVC Holdings (GVC) 657.80p -1.47%