London midday: Stocks nudge lower but Vectura bucks trend
London stocks had dipped into the red by midday on Wednesday as investors digested the latest comments from Federal Reserve officials and sifted through corporate news.
The FTSE 100 was down 0.2% at 7,012.88.
IG market analyst Joshua Mahony said: "Despite easing fears around the Indian Covid variant in the UK, we have seen the FTSE 100 continue to tread water.
"There has been a growing theme around Fed tapering taking shape of late, and commentary from Fed vice-chair Richard Clarida furthered the point that we could see the rate of asset purchases trimmed in the coming months. However, Clarida also reiterated the crucial view that while inflation has been moving sharply higher, this continues the be viewed as transitory in nature.
"For markets, the key question is just how long inflation needs to remain elevated for the Fed to no longer view them as temporary."
In equity markets, British Land was weaker after it said annual profit fell by more than one-third and the value of its properties dropped by more than 10% as the Covid-19 crisis took its toll on the commercial landlord.
Inspection, product testing and certification group Intertek was down despite posting year-to-date like-for-like revenue growth of 2.7% and saying it was on track to deliver its 2021 revenue targets.
Drinks company C&C tumbled as it announced a rights issue to raise £151m, reported a 56% slide in full-year revenue and said it swung to an operating loss as it took a hit from the pandemic.
Going the other way, Croda was the top performer on the FTSE 100 after an upgrade to ‘buy’ at Goldman Sachs.
Sticking with broker notes, Flutter Entertainment was boosted by an upgrade to ‘hold’ at HSBC.
Elsewhere, food and clothing group Marks & Spencer gained despite saying it swung to a heavy full-year loss as it felt the full impact of the coronavirus pandemic. The company reported pre-tax losses of £209.4m for the 53 weeks to April 3 compared with a profit £67.2m a year earlier. Group revenue fell to £9.1bn from £8.9bn.
Softcat rallied as the IT provider upgraded annual earnings guidance after reporting double-digit revenue growth in the third quarter.
Pharmaceutical company Vectura surged after agreeing to be bought by US private equity firm The Carlyle Group in a £958m deal.
Outside the FTSE 350, Spire Healthcare jumped more than 25% after agreeing to be bought by Australia’s Ramsay Health Care for just under £1bn.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,012.88 -0.24%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 22,625.52 0.83%
techMARK (TASX) 4,361.71 0.75%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Croda International (CRDA) 7,014.00p 2.57%
Entain (ENT) 1,667.00p 2.05%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 764.20p 1.81%
Persimmon (PSN) 3,120.00p 1.79%
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 4,669.00p 1.32%
Flutter Entertainment (CDI) (FLTR) 13,465.00p 1.32%
SEGRO (SGRO) 1,038.50p 1.27%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 172.25p 1.23%
Rightmove (RMV) 607.40p 1.17%
Polymetal International (POLY) 1,714.50p 1.09%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Intertek Group (ITRK) 5,664.00p -4.77%
Evraz (EVR) 636.60p -2.99%
British Land Company (BLND) 509.60p -1.92%
NATWEST GROUP PLC ORD 100P (NWG) 199.30p -1.77%
Barclays (BARC) 176.46p -1.77%
Experian (EXPN) 2,736.00p -1.72%
HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 442.20p -1.72%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 499.40p -1.69%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 48.24p -1.69%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 103.92p -1.42%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Vectura Group (VEC) 161.80p 32.62%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 166.50p 6.76%
Mediclinic International (MDC) 326.40p 5.84%
Softcat (SCT) 1,906.00p 5.65%
Network International Holdings (NETW) 404.00p 4.31%
Avon Rubber (AVON) 3,038.00p 4.11%
Shaftesbury (SHB) 609.50p 3.66%
CLS Holdings (CLI) 247.50p 3.56%
GCP Student Living (DIGS) 161.00p 3.21%
PureTech Health (PRTC) 370.50p 3.20%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
C&C Group (CDI) (CCR) 269.20p -11.62%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 429.20p -3.07%
Provident Financial (PFG) 237.20p -2.06%
Pets at Home Group (PETS) 454.80p -2.02%
Greencore Group (CDI) (GNC) 142.20p -1.25%
Trainline (TRN) 269.20p -1.17%
Just Group (JUST) 107.50p -1.01%
TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 434.70p -0.78%
Rank Group (RNK) 201.50p -0.74%
IMI (IMI) 1,642.00p -0.73%