London midday: Stocks drift as investors digest retail sales, house prices
London stocks were still drifting by midday as investors digested the latest retail sales and house price data and looked ahead to Wednesday's Budget.
FTSE 100
8,275.38
16:50 31/05/24
The FTSE 100 was up 0.1% to 7,356.16. The economic calendar is fairly light on Tuesday, but on Wednesday all eyes will be on the Budget. Friday sees the release of the US non-farm payrolls report, while the latest Federal Reserve rate announcement is due next week.
IG's Chris Beauchamp said: "No one wants to be caught out in case the market lurches higher, but at the same time there is a clear desire to avoid chasing the market at all-time highs. Stalemate has thus ensued, but the trio of big events over the next week or so promises to break the deadlock one way or the other. The old adage ‘never short a quiet market’ seems applicable here, and a modest flow into equity ETFs continues to provide reasons to hold long positions rather than try to swim against the tide."
In currency markets, the pound was down 0.4% against the dollar to 1.2188 and 0.4% weaker versus the euro at 1.1526 amid rising expectations of a rate hike by the Federal Reserve later in March.
The latest figures from the British Retail Consortium showed UK retail sales softened in February as consumers adopted a more cautious approach, with non-food sales bearing the brunt of the reduction in spending.
Total retail sales rose by 0.4% year-on-year in February, down from a 1.1% rise in the same month one year ago and below the three-month average of 0.8% and the 12-month average increase of 0.9%.
On a like-for-like basis, retail sales slipped 0.4% during the same month, down from a 0.1% rise in the preceding year.
Meanwhile, the latest data from lender Halifax showed house prices in the three months to February were up 5.1% from the same period the year before, but down compared to a 5.7% increase in the three months to January.
The increase was weaker than the 5.3% analysts had expected and marked the lowest annual rate of growth since July 2013.
House prices were up 0.1% in February compared to the month before, when they fell a revised 1.1%, missing expectations for a 0.4% jump.
On a quarterly basis, prices were up 1.7%, down from 2.3% in January.
On the corporate front, Ashtead was on the front foot after its third-quarter results revealed it remained en route to a strong year of growth, with gross capital expenditure expected towards the upper end of its our previous guidance
Testing, inspection and certification specialist Intertek rose as it said full-year 2016 sales rocketed 18.5% to £2.57bn as weakness in the pound continued to bolster its top-line.
Just Eat rallied after it reported a surge in 2016 revenue and earnings as it seeks to capture further share of the online food delivery market.
Building supplies company Grafton was a high riser as it said a strong contribution from its Isero acquisition in the Netherlands helped to boost full year operating profits by 14% to £142m.
Newly merged bookmaker Paddy Power Betfair was in the red after saying its new financial year has started in line with expectations, as it reported a 35% rise in underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation to £400m.
Electronic payments processor Worldpay fell despite posting a big jump in 2016 pre-tax profit.
Direct Line retreated after saying its full-year profit took a £175m hit from the reduction in the Ogden discount rate.
Power supplier Aggreko tanked as it issued a profit warning, saying its 2017 results would be offset by the “significant impact” of a reduction in pricing on contracts in Argentina.
Challenger bank Shawbrook was under pressure as it rejected a takeover offer from major investor Pollen Street after consulting with a number of its other large shareholders.
BHP Billiton was in the red after talk of Chile’s presidential hopeful urging striking miners to refuse a poor contract offer, while other miners were in the spotlight as base metals diverge on digestion of slower China growth outlook.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,356.16 0.08%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 18,944.98 0.34%
techMARK (TASX) 3,445.21 -0.04%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Intertek Group (ITRK) 3,745.00p 4.20%
Convatec Group (CTEC) 259.60p 1.80%
WPP (WPP) 1,751.00p 1.80%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 189.00p 1.56%
Croda International (CRDA) 3,606.00p 1.29%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,312.50p 1.28%
Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 1,959.00p 1.19%
Unilever (ULVR) 3,922.00p 1.19%
Persimmon (PSN) 2,136.00p 1.14%
GKN (GKN) 374.40p 1.05%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Paddy Power Betfair (PPB) 8,340.00p -5.07%
Direct Line Insurance Group (DLG) 337.60p -3.10%
Standard Life (SL.) 388.40p -2.90%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 1,699.00p -2.58%
Informa (INF) 659.00p -2.51%
Worldpay Group (WPG) 268.10p -2.51%
Tesco (TSCO) 186.70p -1.89%
Centrica (CNA) 221.90p -1.86%
SSE (SSE) 1,520.00p -1.49%
Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 243.80p -1.30%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Grafton Group Units (GFTU) 664.50p 9.47%
Just Eat (JE.) 554.00p 6.95%
Carillion (CLLN) 224.70p 3.79%
Ibstock (IBST) 208.90p 2.86%
Travis Perkins (TPK) 1,482.00p 2.85%
esure Group (ESUR) 220.90p 2.74%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 873.50p 2.64%
RPC Group (RPC) 916.00p 2.46%
Acacia Mining (ACA) 425.00p 2.43%
Synthomer (SYNT) 457.00p 2.35%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Aggreko (AGK) 936.50p -11.48%
Mitie Group (MTO) 200.40p -4.62%
Sports Direct International (SPD) 287.50p -3.97%
Paysafe Group (PAYS) 409.20p -3.17%
Aberdeen Asset Management (ADN) 290.00p -2.78%
Berendsen (BRSN) 805.50p -1.65%
Go-Ahead Group (GOG) 1,812.00p -1.63%
Cobham (COB) 127.50p -1.62%
Brown (N.) Group (BWNG) 205.40p -1.34%
Ladbrokes Coral Group (LCL) 121.60p -1.22%