London midday: Stocks maintain gains as BoE stands pat
London stocks were still in the black just after midday on Thursday as investors digested the latest policy announcement from the Bank of England.
The FTSE 100 was up 0.4% at 7,100.56 and sterling was 0.1% firmer versus the dollar at 1.3976 after the BoE kept interest rates on hold at 0.1% and left its bond-buying programme unchanged. The Monetary Policy Committee voted unanimously to hold pat on rates and 8-1 to leave quantitative easing unchanged. The Bank’s chief economist, Andy Haldane, voted to cut the bond-buying programme to £825bn from £875bn.
On the corporate front, Crest Nicholson rallied after the housebuilder said it swung to a first-half profit and upgraded its full-year profit guidance amid solid demand. Peers followed suit, with Berkeley, Barratt and Taylor Wimpey all up.
IG market analyst Chris Beauchamp said: "The UK recovery is certainly in full swing where homes are concerned, Britons having escaped from lockdown by renewing their love affair with property. Activity in the market is certainly on the rise, with ‘business as usual’ returning remarkably quickly."
Elsewhere, distribution specialist Bunzl gained after it said first-half revenue is expected to increase by around 1% at actual exchange rates and 6% - 7% at constant rates as a recovery in its base business, including the food service and retail sectors was largely offset by a fall in Covid-related orders.
Wealth manager Rathbone Brothers was weaker after it raised net proceeds of around £49m in a placing to help fund the £150m acquisition of UK financial planning business Saunderson House. The company placed just over 2.8m ordinary shares with institutional investors at 1,760p each, which is a 7.9% to the closing share price on Wednesday.
United Utilities, Vodafone, British Land, Airtel Africa, Tate & Lyle, LXI Reit and JD Sports were all in the red as they traded without entitlement to the dividend.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,100.56 0.37%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 22,571.47 -0.39%
techMARK (TASX) 4,459.04 -0.36%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 4,738.00p 2.58%
Rightmove (RMV) 667.40p 2.02%
Flutter Entertainment (CDI) (FLTR) 14,115.00p 1.88%
Royal Mail (RMG) 589.00p 1.76%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 1,983.50p 1.72%
Auto Trader Group (AUTO) 648.00p 1.47%
Bunzl (BNZL) 2,418.00p 1.47%
NATWEST GROUP PLC ORD 100P (NWG) 207.90p 1.32%
Entain (ENT) 1,838.00p 1.30%
Anglo American (AAL) 2,858.50p 1.29%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
United Utilities Group (UU.) 983.40p -3.68%
Vodafone Group (VOD) 126.44p -3.23%
Evraz (EVR) 595.20p -3.19%
British Land Company (BLND) 506.60p -2.35%
Informa (INF) 504.00p -2.29%
BT Group (BT.A) 201.90p -1.66%
Phoenix Group Holdings (PHNX) 668.20p -1.15%
Pearson (PSON) 836.40p -1.06%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 156.75p -0.85%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 692.60p -0.77%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Chrysalis Investments Limited NPV (CHRY) 254.00p 4.53%
Crest Nicholson Holdings (CRST) 448.00p 4.09%
Volution Group (FAN) 438.50p 2.45%
NCC Group (NCC) 295.00p 1.72%
RHI Magnesita N.V. (DI) (RHIM) 4,186.00p 1.70%
Liontrust Asset Management (LIO) 1,678.00p 1.70%
Baillie Gifford US Growth Trust (USA) 341.50p 1.64%
Kainos Group (KNOS) 1,408.00p 1.59%
Vistry Group (VTY) 1,222.50p 1.16%
BB Healthcare Trust (Red) (BBH) 193.20p 1.05%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
LXI Reit (LXI) 136.00p -5.82%
Airtel Africa (AAF) 80.30p -4.74%
Wood Group (John) (WG.) 219.00p -4.37%
Trainline (TRN) 291.00p -3.58%
Cineworld Group (CINE) 84.28p -3.39%
Tate & Lyle (TATE) 744.60p -3.12%
Auction Technology Group (ATG) 1,156.00p -2.86%
Energean (ENOG) 749.50p -2.85%
SSP Group (SSPG) 291.60p -2.77%
Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 1,034.00p -2.64%