London midday: Stocks nudge lower as rally runs out of steam
London stocks had dipped into the red by midday on Tuesday as the rally from the previous session ran out of steam.
The FTSE 100 was down 0.1% at 6,751.35, giving back some gains after surging on Monday on the back of optimism over the vaccine rollout and recovery hopes. Sterling was up 0.1% against the dollar at 1.3923.
As the rally lost momentum, IG analyst Chris Beauchamp said investors will be looking to the US for more concrete direction.
"A host of Fed speakers this week provides some hurdles for investors to navigate, but the dominant theme should continue to be the push to provide direct support for US consumers, complementing the low interest rates and QE for the corporate sector," he said.
In equity markets, homeware retailer Dunelm slumped after deputy chairman Will Adderley sold 15m shares in the company, a stake of about 7.4%, at a 9% discount to the closing share price on Monday.
Some of the travel and leisure stocks that had gained on Monday were in the red, with catering group Compass, pub chain Mitchells & Butlers, Upper Crust owner SSP and cruise operator Carnival all lower.
On the upside, miner Glencore gained after its full-year adjusted earnings beat expectations and it reinstated its dividend.
Australia’s BHP also advanced as it declared a record interim dividend after reporting a rise in profits driven by Chinese demand for iron ore. Other miners followed suit, with Rio, Anglo American and Antofagasta all higher.
Serco surged after the outsourcer agreed to buy Whitney, Bradley & Brown Inc (WBB), a provider of advisory, engineering and technical services to the US military, for $295m.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 6,751.35 -0.07%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 21,368.41 -0.24%
techMARK (TASX) 4,162.99 -0.33%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Glencore (GLEN) 291.35p 3.21%
Evraz (EVR) 549.40p 2.65%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 98.22p 2.23%
HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 418.40p 1.94%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 6,297.00p 1.79%
Anglo American (AAL) 2,837.00p 1.58%
BHP Group (BHP) 2,263.00p 1.57%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,613.00p 1.35%
Croda International (CRDA) 6,714.00p 1.21%
Smurfit Kappa Group (SKG) 3,762.00p 1.07%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Compass Group (CPG) 1,458.00p -2.54%
Informa (INF) 515.00p -2.46%
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 825.20p -2.37%
M&G (MNG) 192.45p -1.94%
Associated British Foods (ABF) 2,304.00p -1.87%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 165.35p -1.87%
Kingfisher (KGF) 274.50p -1.82%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 690.60p -1.82%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 2,740.50p -1.76%
British Land Company (BLND) 465.50p -1.73%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Rank Group (RNK) 140.20p 6.53%
Serco Group (SRP) 126.70p 5.85%
TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 362.20p 4.68%
Safestore Holdings (SAFE) 808.50p 3.59%
Rotork (ROR) 359.80p 3.57%
Cineworld Group (CINE) 85.20p 3.00%
IP Group (IPO) 114.20p 2.88%
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 2,178.00p 2.30%
Hammerson (HMSO) 23.07p 1.85%
Cranswick (CWK) 3,566.00p 1.71%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Mitchells & Butlers (MAB) 323.50p -8.74%
Dunelm Group (DNLM) 1,289.00p -8.45%
SSP Group (SSPG) 305.20p -4.33%
Redrow (RDW) 554.00p -2.38%
Pets at Home Group (PETS) 417.00p -2.34%
Vistry Group (VTY) 881.00p -2.33%
Carnival (CCL) 1,332.50p -2.24%
WH Smith (SMWH) 1,701.00p -2.19%
Wetherspoon (J.D.) (JDW) 1,261.00p -2.10%
Ninety One (N91) 233.20p -2.02%