London midday: Stocks pare gains ahead of US jobless claims
London stocks had pared gains by midday on Thursday to trade pretty much flat, as investors eyed the latest US jobs figures and continued to mull the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.
The FTSE 100 was up 0.1% at 5,604.34, with a three-week extension to the lockdown expected to be announced later in the day.
Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: "The FTSE 100 has still not clawed back all its losses from yesterday, with weak commodity prices keeping the index in check, but some comfort can be taken from the fact we are not seeing the sort of nerve-shredding moves in markets posted in mid to late March.
"US jobless claims figures might test investors’ appetite for risk later as a coronavirus-inspired unemployment crisis continues to brew across the Atlantic."
The jobless claims figures, due at 1230 BST, are expected to show that another 5 million people applied for unemployment benefits last week.
In equity markets, pest control company Rentokil was the standout gainer on the FTSE 100 as it posted a 7.2% rise in first-quarter revenue but said the impact of the coronavirus crisis in the second quarter is set to be greater in the last two weeks of March as more countries were locked down.
Budget airline easyJet was the standout gainer after saying it expects to report a first-half pre-tax loss of £360m to £380m as it agreed new loans worth £400m in order to strengthen its balance sheet against the pandemic's impact, which grounded its entire fleet. It also said it intends to take no new aircraft deliveries in 2021 as the war of words with founder and majority shareholder Stelios Haji-Ioannou over a 107 plane order with Airbus intensified.
Barratt Developments rallied as the housebuilder announced a 20% pay cut for its board and senior managers and said it was furloughing about 85% of its employees.
Cruise ship operator Carnival and British Airways owner IAG - both of which have suffered heavy losses on the back of the coronavirus - were also on the front foot.
On the downside, Petrofac shares slid as it said the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company had cancelled two recently awarded contracts for the Dalma Gas Development Project worth $1.65bn.
M&G, St James’s Place, Reckitt Benckiser and Croda were all down as their stock went ex-dividend.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 5,604.34 0.12%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 15,382.93 0.23%
techMARK (TASX) 3,378.50 0.42%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Rentokil Initial (RTO) 415.10p 5.76%
Carnival (CCL) 894.80p 4.70%
Evraz (EVR) 243.40p 4.60%
Polymetal International (POLY) 1,578.00p 4.47%
Auto Trader Group (AUTO) 419.60p 4.14%
easyJet (EZJ) 626.60p 3.88%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 226.00p 3.76%
Persimmon (PSN) 1,893.50p 2.96%
Smurfit Kappa Group (SKG) 2,224.00p 2.87%
Just Eat Takeaway.Com N.V. (CDI) (JET) 7,982.00p 2.81%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
M&G (MNG) 129.00p -11.64%
St James's Place (STJ) 748.60p -5.31%
Whitbread (WTB) 2,562.00p -2.66%
RSA Insurance Group (RSA) 349.90p -2.53%
Phoenix Group Holdings (PHNX) 545.60p -2.47%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 606.80p -2.29%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 6,176.00p -2.28%
Aviva (AV.) 237.70p -2.22%
3i Group (III) 713.00p -2.06%
Glencore (GLEN) 132.00p -1.81%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Hyve Group (HYVE) 24.20p 14.69%
Cineworld Group (CINE) 55.24p 11.21%
Avast (AVST) 446.60p 10.98%
Premier Oil (PMO) 23.70p 6.61%
Go-Ahead Group (GOG) 1,254.00p 5.64%
Network International Holdings (NETW) 420.00p 5.26%
Trainline (TRN) 344.60p 5.25%
Petropavlovsk (POG) 23.50p 5.15%
Crest Nicholson Holdings (CRST) 225.00p 5.14%
Hiscox Limited (DI) (HSX) 766.60p 5.01%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
BMO Commercial Property Trust Limited (BCPT) 64.20p -13.13%
Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 165.85p -10.42%
PureTech Health (PRTC) 240.50p -7.68%
G4S (GFS) 89.00p -5.74%
Watches of Switzerland Group (WOSG) 227.00p -5.22%
Virgin Money UK (VMUK) 71.28p -4.93%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 94.74p -4.46%
Capita (CPI) 35.02p -4.26%
Micro Focus International (MCRO) 369.30p -4.25%
Bakkavor Group (BAKK) 71.80p -4.14%