London midday: FTSE dips as pound steadies; Convatec tumbles after warning
London stocks were a touch lower by midday on Monday, with the top-flight index flitting between small gains and losses as the pound regained some composure.
The FTSE 100 was down 0.1% to 6,990.47, dropping below the 7,000 mark to sit at six-month lows. Meanwhile, sterling was steady at $1.3150 and down 0.2% versus the euro at 1.1361, having fallen against the greenback earlier after it emerged that weekend Brexit negotiations between Dominic Raab and the EU's chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, failed to yield any breakthroughs, with the Irish border still the main bone of contention.
The pound appeared to perk up a little after British foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt told reporters in Luxembourg: "There are one or two very difficult outstanding issues, but I think we can get there."
He added: "Everyone is trying incredibly hard. I think it is possible to do it and I think with goodwill on both sides we can get there."
Investors will now be eyeing the EU summit in Belgium on Wednesday for any further developments.
Oanda analyst Craig Erlam said: "The pound is holding up relatively well despite the stalled progress over the weekend. The currency is likely to remain rather volatile over the coming weeks as talks continue and we see increasing amounts of commentary being leaked, not to mention more pressure on the May following reports that more letters of no confidence being submitted, taking the total number to 44, four short of the number required to trigger a vote."
In commodity markets, oil prices were on the up as tensions between the US and Saudi Arabia grew following the disappearance of prominent Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who has been missing since his visit to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul earlier this month. West Texas Intermediate was 0.6% higher at $71.79 a barrel and Brent crude was 1.1% firmer at $81.30.
With Saudi Arabia denying being behind the disappearance and voweing to retaliate to any sanctions or pressure from other countries, Erlam said: "This makes oil traders very nervous given that Saudi Arabia is among the world’s largest producers and could use this as a tool against other governments, at a time when prices are already inflated and rising due to tighter supply on the back of years or coordinated cuts and more recently, Iranian sanctions."
A survey released by Rightmove earlier showed that UK house prices rose 1% on the month in October, up from a 0.7% increase in September but marking the lowest monthly rate of increase at this time of year since 2010.
On the year, house prices were 0.9% higher this month, down from a 1.2% rise in September and marking the lowest annual rate since February 2012.
Retail footfall in September, meanwhile, was down 1.7% year-on-year, slightly worse that August’s fall of 1.6%, according to a survey from the British Retail Consortium. High streets visits declined for the second month in a row, while shopping centres saw decreases for the 18th month in a row, while retail parks remained in growth but only just.
In corporate news, convenience food manufacturer Greencore reversed earlier gains to trade sharply lower after striking a deal to sell its entire US business for $1.1bn (£817m) and return a chunk of the cash to shareholders. The Dublin-headquartered, FTSE 250-listed outfit said it would return £509m, or 72p per share, of the £802m net proceeds to shareholders, if they approve the deal.
Fashion brand Superdry slid after warning that profits for the financial year 2019 would be down around £10m due to unseasonably hot weather and unexpected foreign exchange costs.
Outpacing that fall, Convatec tumbled nearly 30% as it warned on profits and announced the retirement of chief executive officer Paul Moraviec.
On the upside, Polymetal rose after increasing its stake in the Veduga gold deposit in Russia to 74.3% while precious metals miners Randgold Resources and Fresnillo rallied as gold prices hit their highest levels since July.
In broker note action, Spectris was upgraded to 'buy' at Bank of America Merrill Lynch while IMI was downgraded to 'neutral'.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 6,990.47 -0.08%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 18,787.84 -0.98%
techMARK (TASX) 3,259.44 -0.16%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Fresnillo (FRES) 915.30p 4.44%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 6,024.59p 4.16%
Paddy Power Betfair (PPB) 6,260.00p 4.07%
Micro Focus International (MCRO) 1,387.00p 1.87%
GVC Holdings (GVC) 949.00p 1.82%
Imperial Brands (IMB) 2,550.50p 1.35%
BT Group (BT.A) 238.90p 1.27%
Shire Plc (SHP) 4,338.50p 0.88%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 5,593.00p 0.85%
CRH (CRH) 2,334.00p 0.82%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Ashtead Group (AHT) 1,932.50p -3.11%
Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 1,757.00p -2.74%
BAE Systems (BA.) 570.00p -2.43%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 166.45p -2.38%
Schroders (SDR) 2,779.00p -2.18%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 796.00p -2.12%
Ferguson (FERG) 5,435.00p -1.70%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 293.50p -1.68%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,732.50p -1.65%
Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,275.50p -1.54%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Nex Group (NXG) 1,054.00p 4.88%
IWG (IWG) 219.20p 3.40%
Sirius Minerals (SXX) 25.82p 3.12%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 104.35p 3.01%
Thomas Cook Group (TCG) 47.60p 2.94%
Polymetal International (POLY) 683.20p 2.71%
Keller Group (KLR) 674.83p 2.40%
Bakkavor Group (BAKK) 159.00p 2.32%
AA (AA.) 101.50p 1.97%
Just Group (JUST) 83.80p 1.88%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Convatec Group (CTEC) 158.85p -29.15%
Superdry (SDRY) 804.00p -20.79%
IMI (IMI) 971.00p -5.18%
Hays (HAS) 152.10p -3.67%
Renishaw (RSW) 3,992.00p -3.67%
Bank of Georgia Group (BGEO) 1,551.00p -3.36%
Stobart Group Ltd. (STOB) 225.50p -3.22%
Ted Baker (TED) 1,970.00p -3.05%
Greencore Group (GNC) 201.20p -3.04%
Babcock International Group (BAB) 634.80p -2.94%