London close: Stocks flat despite downdraft in Sterling
The top flight index was barely able to edge into the black by the closing bell, despite a downdraft in Sterling, with Whitbread on the slide after a disappointing set of interim results.
FTSE 250
19,820.29
15:40 26/04/24
FTSE 350
4,469.44
15:40 26/04/24
FTSE All-Share
4,422.82
15:40 26/04/24
Serco Group
181.80p
15:40 26/04/24
Support Services
10,643.09
15:40 26/04/24
The FTSE 100 finished the session up by 0.03% to 7,526.54, while the pound was down 0.70% against the euro at 1.1154 and 0.54% lower versus the dollar 1.3125.
Sterling came under pressure as comments from Bank of England deputy governor Jon Cunliffe cast further doubt over the likelihood of a November hike in Bank Rate.
Speaking on a trip to Wales, Cunliffe told the Western Mail that while interest rates are sure to be higher in three years' time, there's no guarantee that the first rate increase in a decade is imminent.
"Coming off the back of Theresa May’s declaration that significant progress is being made in Brexit negotiations, Cunliffe’s declaration that a November rate hike remains an ‘open question’ has put some pressure on sterling," said IG analyst Joshua Mahony.
There were no major UK data releases due on Tuesday, but Wednesday was set to see the release of third-quarter GDP data and BBA mortgage approvals.
In corporate news, Whitbread was under the cosh after first-half results showed evidence of a bit of a summer slowdown, with revenues at its Premier Inn hotels and Costa Coffee arms both softening but tight cost control percolating through to a solid profit performance.
St James's Place on the other hand was a top gainer after it posted £2.36nbn of net inflows of new funds under management for the three months to the end of September compared to £1.66bn in the same period one year ago.
Saga nudged up as it said chairman Andrew Goodsell intends to retire next year.
Distribution and outsourcing group Bunzl slipped despite reporting a rise in third-quarter revenue as it continues to eye further acquisitions.
International service company Serco rallied as it reached agreement to acquire BTP Systems - a provider of satellite communication and radar engineering technical services to the US defence industry and signed heads of terms to acquire a portfolio of selected UK health facilities management contracts from Carillion.
Hunting gushed higher after saying it expects a modest profit for the year as revenue rose in third quarter.
Carillion surged after agreeing to sell a large part of its UK healthcare facilities management business to Serco for £50.1m, and announcing new financing and contract wins.
Weir advanced slightly as RBC Capital Markets lifted it to ‘outperform’, while Pendragon fell again after its profit warning on Monday, as Berenberg and Liberum downgraded their ratings on the stocks.
RSA Insurance edged higher after an upgrade to 'overweight' in a note from JPMorgan, which also sent Admiral and Esure packing with downgrades.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,526.54 0.03%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,113.21 -0.09%
techMARK (TASX) 3,528.63 -0.47%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,031.00p 2.79%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 783.30p 2.03%
St James's Place (STJ) 1,193.00p 1.97%
Rentokil Initial (RTO) 326.30p 1.46%
Glencore (GLEN) 385.20p 1.44%
Worldpay Group (WPG) 411.50p 1.35%
Barclays (BARC) 198.00p 1.30%
Royal Dutch Shell 'A' (RDSA) 2,343.00p 1.30%
Pearson (PSON) 704.50p 1.29%
BP (BP.) 496.25p 1.08%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Whitbread (WTB) 3,753.00p -4.79%
WPP (WPP) 1,324.00p -3.07%
Paddy Power Betfair (PPB) 7,505.00p -2.72%
Convatec Group (CTEC) 207.30p -2.68%
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 3,397.00p -2.39%
easyJet (EZJ) 1,290.00p -2.27%
Mediclinic International (MDC) 609.50p -2.25%
Centrica (CNA) 172.30p -1.77%
Direct Line Insurance Group (DLG) 372.40p -1.48%
Merlin Entertainments (MERL) 368.40p -1.47%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Hunting (HTG) 496.80p 8.78%
Redrow (RDW) 659.00p 2.73%
RPC Group (RPC) 965.00p 2.66%
TalkTalk Telecom Group (TALK) 207.60p 2.62%
Electra Private Equity (ELTA) 1,777.00p 2.42%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 189.30p 1.72%
Virgin Money Holdings (UK) (VM.) 298.80p 1.70%
Cairn Energy (CNE) 203.90p 1.59%
Stobart Group Ltd. (STOB) 269.00p 1.51%
Sirius Minerals (SXX) 26.61p 1.45%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Provident Financial (PFG) 890.00p -4.20%
Softcat (SCT) 499.10p -3.20%
Rank Group (RNK) 221.10p -3.15%
Evraz (EVR) 317.80p -2.52%
Vectura Group (VEC) 98.20p -2.48%
UDG Healthcare Public Limited Company (UDG) 900.50p -1.91%
Workspace Group (WKP) 867.00p -1.81%
Investec (INVP) 548.00p -1.79%
Daejan Holdings (DJAN) 6,190.00p -1.69%
esure Group (ESUR) 269.90p -1.68%