London midday: Stocks holding steady on a busy day
UK stock markets were rangebound on Thursday morning on a busy day for corporate earnings and economic data, as investors maintained a cautious approach following the record peaks reached earlier in the week.
Antofagasta
2,155.00p
16:55 23/04/24
Banks
4,008.17
16:59 23/04/24
British American Tobacco
2,360.00p
16:45 23/04/24
Capita
13.46p
16:39 23/04/24
Construction & Materials
9,923.42
16:59 23/04/24
CRH (CDI)
6,294.00p
16:40 23/04/24
FTSE 100
8,044.81
16:49 23/04/24
FTSE 350
4,424.29
16:59 23/04/24
FTSE All-Share
4,378.75
17:14 23/04/24
Insurance (non-life)
3,711.26
16:59 23/04/24
Media
11,966.12
16:59 23/04/24
Mining
10,339.98
16:59 23/04/24
NATWEST GROUP
285.80p
16:35 23/04/24
RELX plc
3,364.00p
17:05 23/04/24
RSA Insurance Group Limited
684.20p
16:54 28/05/21
Standard Chartered
680.60p
16:34 23/04/24
Support Services
10,639.30
16:59 23/04/24
Tobacco
26,773.81
16:59 23/04/24
London’s FTSE 100 was up just 0.04% at 6,938.10 by midday, trading within a narrow range of just 20 points or so.
The index has continued to fluctuate after settling at an all-time closing high of 6,949.63 on Tuesday, having hit an intraday record of 6,958.89 that same day.
Annual results from a number of blue chips received a mixed reaction from investors in London with British American Tobacco, Capita, CRH, Reed Elsevier, RSA and Royal Bank of Scotland all reporting. However, mining stocks were doing their best to support markets.
In economic data, the UK economy grew by 0.5% in the fourth quarter of 2014, in line with the preliminary reading and economists' expectations. Annual growth picked up to 2.7% from 2.6% previously.
Another report showed German unemployment fell 20,000 in February, more than the 10,000 decline that was expected. The jobless rate held at 6.5%.
Later on there will be inflation, jobless claims and durable goods orders due out in the States.
Miners rise as earnings come in thick and fast
Mining stocks were all on the rise as metal prices improved, with Antofagasta, Randgold, Anglo American, Glencore and Rio Tinto all making decent gains.
RBS dropped after missing forecasts with its 2014 results, reporting a loss of ÂŁ3.5bn for the year, though this was still better than the ÂŁ9bn loss recorded in 2013. The bank also confirmed the appointment of Sir Howard Davies as its new chairman.
Cigarette maker British American Tobacco was higher after reporting a less-than-expected 8.4% fall in 2014 revenue to ÂŁ13.97bn, compared with the consensus forecast of ÂŁ13.89bn.
Capita was weaker as the outsourcing and business services giant underwhelmed with a 13% rise in underling pre-tax profit to ÂŁ535.7m last year.
Investors also gave a cool reaction to plans by Anglo-Dutch information group Reed Elsevier to combine its two parent companies and rename itself RELX Group. The company also said underlying adjusted operating profit rose 5% to ÂŁ1.74bn in 2014 as it forecast another year of growth in 2015.
Building materials group CRH was higher after beating expectations with a 5% rise in sales to €18.9bn last year.
RSA Insurance returned to an annual profit and recommenced its dividend but disappointed with the announcement that its chief financial officer is stepping down.
Standard Chartered rose after appointing former JPMorgan boss Bill Winters as its new chief executive as it confirmed current head Peter Sands will step down in June. The bank also announced that chairman John Peace will step down in 2016.
Diageo and Easyjet were both trading lower after going ex-dividend.
Market Movers
techMARK 3,151.01 +0.02%
FTSE 100 6,938.10 +0.04%
FTSE 250 17,194.36 +0.04%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Antofagasta (ANTO) 780.00p +3.45%
Kingfisher (KGF) 360.40p +3.24%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 5,185.00p +2.77%
Persimmon (PSN) 1,730.00p +2.73%
Glencore (GLEN) 306.50p +2.47%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,254.50p +2.41%
Meggitt (MGGT) 554.00p +2.40%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 947.20p +2.26%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,238.00p +2.13%
Tesco (TSCO) 245.70p +1.99%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
easyJet (EZJ) 1,728.00p -4.69%
Reed Elsevier (REL) 1,134.00p -4.46%
Capita (CPI) 1,150.00p -3.85%
RSA Insurance Group (RSA) 433.80p -3.66%
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 389.70p -3.37%
Bunzl (BNZL) 1,885.00p -1.82%
Direct Line Insurance Group (DLG) 326.60p -1.63%
SSE (SSE) 1,560.00p -1.58%
Pearson (PSON) 1,391.00p -1.56%
Severn Trent (SVT) 2,040.00p -1.21%
FTSE 250 - Risers
RPS Group (RPS) 260.40p +8.05%
Domino's Pizza Group (DOM) 741.00p +7.00%
Interserve (IRV) 594.00p +6.64%
Ladbrokes (LAD) 121.60p +6.48%
Serco Group (SRP) 232.20p +5.02%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 609.50p +5.00%
Countrywide (CWD) 528.50p +3.42%
Playtech (PTEC) 762.50p +3.32%
Howden Joinery Group (HWDN) 452.50p +2.93%
Bank of Georgia Holdings (BGEO) 1,800.00p +2.86%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Beazley (BEZ) 291.00p -8.35%
Spire Healthcare Group (SPI) 315.50p -3.22%
Telecom Plus (TEP) 1,064.00p -3.18%
Enterprise Inns (ETI) 104.90p -2.87%
AO World (AO.) 186.70p -2.76%
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 2,496.00p -2.54%
Provident Financial (PFG) 2,702.00p -2.38%
Ted Baker (TED) 2,513.00p -2.14%
Homeserve (HSV) 338.90p -2.08%
Computacenter (CCC) 729.00p -1.75%