London midday: Stocks fall ahead of ECB; housebuilders buck trend
London stocks had extended losses by midday on Thursday as investors eyed the latest interest rate decision from the European Central Bank.
The FTSE 100 was down 1% at 5,954.98.
IG analyst Chris Beauchamp said: "Some will be wondering if the correction of the past week has run its course, which would be in line with the scope and duration of pullbacks for the this rally, or whether the upcoming US election, Brexit and a host of concerns about renewed lockdowns and economic weakness will lead to a more sustained drop into October.
"Today’s ECB meeting should see the bank make at least a passing reference to recent euro strength against the dollar, although firm action is unlikely this time around. Instead we will likely see the bank lay out a path to further easing later in the year, responding as needed if and when the initial rebound from the Covid-19 economic shock begins to fade. Markets looking for a real boost may well be disappointed, bolstering the current negative price action of the past week."
The ECB rate decision is due at 1245 BST.
On home shores, investors were mulling over the latest survey from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, which showed house prices rose at the fastest pace for four years in August as buyers sought out properties with gardens or near green space.
A net balance of 44% of estate agents reported rising prices in RICS' monthly survey, up from 13% in July and a turnaround from May when prices were falling. Only London failed to show growth with prices more or less unchanged in the past two months.
Buyer interest, new instructions and agreed sales all rose sharply as households acted to take account of Chancellor Rishi Sunak's stamp duty holiday, RICS said.
In equity markets, miners were under the cosh as copper prices fell, with BHP, Antofagasta and Anglo American all weaker.
Supermarket chain Morrisons was in the red after it said first-half like-for-like sales rose 8.7% but revenue declined 1.1% and pre-tax profit was down 28.2%.
British Airways and Iberia parent IAG flew lower after announcing a heavily-discounted rights issue to raise €2.74bn to help bolster its finances.
Homewares retailer Dunelm slid as it reported a drop in full-year profit and revenue, hit by the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent closure of its stores.
Elsewhere, oilfield services provider Petrofac was knocked lower by a downgrade to ‘underperform’ at Bernstein.
On the upside, housebuilders were boosted by the RICS survey, with Persimmon, Taylor Wimpey, Barratt and Berkeley all higher.
Miniature wargames manufacturer Games Workshop surged to a fresh high after it declared a 50p a share dividend and said trading in the three months to 30 August was ahead of the board’s expectations thanks to a solid performance from the online segment.
Dixons Carphone rallied after saying it was considering a minority listing of its Nordics business and reporting strong trading supported by online sales.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 5,954.98 -0.96%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 17,608.80 0.08%
techMARK (TASX) 3,820.88 -0.65%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Persimmon (PSN) 2,524.00p 2.14%
Compass Group (CPG) 1,278.00p 2.04%
GVC Holdings (GVC) 854.60p 1.81%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 114.05p 1.06%
ITV (ITV) 63.18p 0.93%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 505.20p 0.92%
Kingfisher (KGF) 278.00p 0.76%
Croda International (CRDA) 6,084.00p 0.56%
Prudential (PRU) 1,165.00p 0.47%
Auto Trader Group (AUTO) 554.80p 0.47%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 188.95p -3.10%
HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 318.85p -2.70%
Smith (DS) (SMDS) 282.50p -2.59%
Pearson (PSON) 532.60p -2.56%
BHP Group (BHP) 1,678.40p -2.40%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,832.00p -2.21%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,073.50p -2.14%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 2,615.00p -2.00%
Avast (AVST) 539.00p -2.00%
Evraz (EVR) 321.90p -1.98%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Games Workshop Group (GAW) 9,540.00p 9.34%
Dixons Carphone (DC.) 86.75p 5.92%
Computacenter (CCC) 2,372.00p 4.49%
Royal Mail (RMG) 228.40p 4.01%
Ibstock (IBST) 152.70p 3.74%
Bank of Georgia Group (BGEO) 932.00p 3.56%
Vivo Energy (VVO) 75.20p 2.87%
Electrocomponents (ECM) 688.50p 2.76%
GCP Student Living (DIGS) 137.80p 2.68%
AVI Global Trust (AGT) 730.00p 2.67%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Cineworld Group (CINE) 50.00p -5.27%
Hammerson (HMSO) 24.38p -4.85%
Dunelm Group (DNLM) 1,393.00p -4.78%
Pagegroup (PAGE) 377.20p -3.33%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 172.30p -3.26%
Quilter (QLT) 133.70p -3.26%
Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 138.50p -3.25%
Derwent London (DLN) 2,630.00p -3.24%
Just Group (JUST) 48.90p -2.69%
FirstGroup (FGP) 42.14p -2.68%