London midday: Stocks steady as StanChart rallies, Next slumps
London stocks had flattened out by midday on Wednesday as investors mulled the prospect of a general election before Christmas and sifted through updates from the likes of Next and Standard Chartered.
The FTSE 100 was steady at 7,306.85, while the pound was up 0.2% against the dollar at 1.2892 and flat versus the euro at 1.1581.
Spreadex analyst Connor Campbell said the fact that sterling "hasn't freaked out" about a general election on 12 December suggests that traders are hoping for increased political clarity heading into 2020, "a result that would give one party a workable majority and allow the Commons to avoid the repeated Brexit deadlock that has become the norm post-referendum".
Oanda analyst Craig Erlam said: "Conservatives remain favourite to take a majority which would probably be the most market friendly outcome, even if it does basically kill any hope of a second referendum."
Away from Brexit, the focus will shift across the pond, with Fed fund futures pricing in a 95% chance of a 25 basis points rate cut when the Federal Reserve announces its latest policy decision at 1800 GMT.
Neil Wilson, chief market analyst at Markets.com, said: "While Jay Powell will of course leave the door open to further cuts, there’s a sense this should be the last cut this year.
"The FOMC is already divided on cuts, putting pressure on the dovish core to justify why more are needed, and although there has been some softening in the economic data since the last meeting, it’s by no means all bad and the immediate market-based pressure to cut has subsided."
In equity markets, Next was the worst performer on the top-flight index after the retailer posted a rise in third-quarter full price sales and backed its guidance for 2020 but sounded a cautious note over its immediate outlook and reported a 6.3% decline in retail sales. The stock was also hit by a downgrade to 'hold' from 'buy' at Liberum, which said the valuation was now up with events.
On the upside, Standard Chartered was sitting pretty at the top of the FTSE 100 after the bank reported a 16% jump in third-quarter pre-tax profit despite a challenging environment. In the three months to 30 September, underlying pre-tax profit rose to $1.2bn from $1.1bn in the third quarter of last year, while statutory pre-tax profit was up 4% to $1.1bn. Analysts had been expecting underlying pre-tax profit of $1bn.
On the FTSE 250, ConvaTec and Computacenter racked up strong gains on the back of well-received trading updates.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,306.85 0.01%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,113.25 -0.27%
techMARK (TASX) 3,917.61 0.43%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Standard Chartered (STAN) 714.40p 2.79%
Intertek Group (ITRK) 5,286.00p 1.73%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 5,937.00p 1.71%
Spirax-Sarco Engineering (SPX) 7,940.00p 1.60%
Ferguson (FERG) 6,598.00p 1.32%
Diageo (DGE) 3,146.31p 1.31%
BP (BP.) 498.55p 1.22%
Informa (INF) 780.80p 1.14%
Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 1,768.50p 1.11%
Experian (EXPN) 2,443.00p 1.08%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Next (NXT) 6,630.00p -3.21%
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 213.20p -2.74%
Whitbread (WTB) 4,109.00p -2.51%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 205.50p -2.51%
Legal & General Group (LGEN) 262.00p -2.42%
Kingfisher (KGF) 207.50p -2.35%
Evraz (EVR) 377.94p -2.29%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 893.20p -2.25%
3i Group (III) 1,128.00p -2.17%
Smith (DS) (SMDS) 354.00p -2.05%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Convatec Group (CTEC) 201.20p 9.92%
Computacenter (CCC) 1,337.10p 6.03%
Future (FUTR) 1,348.00p 4.50%
Airtel Africa (AAF) 64.15p 2.56%
Contour Global (GLO) 211.36p 1.62%
AJ Bell (AJB) 384.50p 1.32%
Homeserve (HSV) 1,153.00p 1.23%
TP ICAP (TCAP) 348.00p 1.16%
Serco Group (SRP) 156.90p 1.16%
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 429.00p 1.16%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Riverstone Energy Limited (RSE) 458.00p -4.18%
Sports Direct International (SPD) 307.60p -3.33%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 122.80p -3.31%
PureTech Health (PRTC) 247.00p -3.14%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 182.50p -2.56%
Bakkavor Group (BAKK) 118.20p -2.31%
Avast (AVST) 412.20p -2.23%
Inchcape (INCH) 663.00p -2.21%
IMI (IMI) 1,010.00p -2.18%
OneSavings Bank (OSB) 362.80p -2.10%