London close: Stocks end session on a soft note, Gilts heavily sold

Stocks ended the session slightly lower even after the Chancellor announced a modest fiscal boost, with equity traders on both sides of the Pond opting to pull in their horns ahead of the Thanksgiving holidays in the States.

The Footsie finished down by 0.03% or 2.01 points at 6,817.71, alongside a gain of 0.26% for the pound versus the US dollar as the Autumn Statement saw yields on 10-year Gilts jump by nine basis points to 1.45%.

Losses in Gilts also came amid a much stronger-than-expected headline reading on US durable goods orders and a report from Reuters that the European Central Bank was considering lending the German bonds it owns in order to avoid a market freeze.

Chancellor Philip Hammond said the government would require an extra £122bn in borrowing and growth would slow to 1.4% next year.

In his first set piece speech since becoming finance minister, Hammond said the slowdown would be the result of weaker consumer demand and uncertainty about what kind of deal Britain would strike with the European Union since voting to leave in June.

He added that the key driving factors were the plunge in the pound and higher inflation since the referendum result.

Ian Stewart, chief economist at Deloitte, commented: “This is no Keynesian-style spending splurge. Mr Hammond wants to strengthen productivity through targeted investment, not with big increases in government spending. What room for manoeuvre the Chancellor has got has been used to boost government investment and welfare spending. Most of the slippage on the deficit has been caused by slower growth, not by government decisions."

Meanwhile, oil prices were trading just a touch lower after a choppy session on Tuesday, as investors continued to hope that next week’s OPEC meeting will yield an agreement to cut production.

West Texas Intermediate was up 0.04% to $48.05 a barrel and Brent crude was off 0.1% at $49.06.

Copper futures were also higher, gaining 2.17% to $2.6115 a pound.

Estate agents sent lower after Autumn Statement

Hammond announced he planned to clamp down on letting agent fees, sending shares of estate agents Foxtons, Countrywide and LSL Property Services all lower.

Elsewhere, United Utilities rose as it reported a small jump in underlying first-half profit and lifted its interim dividend.

Property investor Hammerson slipped after agreeing to buy four outlet centres in Europe worth a combined €587m (£502m), in order to expand in the territory.

GlaxoSmithKline gained as it said its mepolizumab medicine met Phase 3 trial endpoints.

Thomas Cook surged. Although the travel company posted a drop in revenue and profit for the year to the end of September, underlying profit from operations came in ahead of expectations.

Softcat lost ground after saying it has seen a good start in the first quarter but that it expects operating profit for the year to be weighted towards the second half.

Also to the downside, CMC Markets was in the red as it reported a slump in revenue and profits for the first half.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 6,817.71 -0.03%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 17,622.52 -0.32%
techMARK (TASX) 3,277.41 -0.14%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Anglo American (AAL) 1,237.50p 2.44%
Compass Group (CPG) 1,355.00p 2.19%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,363.00p 2.17%
Provident Financial (PFG) 2,988.00p 1.84%
Bunzl (BNZL) 2,041.00p 1.74%
Wolseley (WOS) 4,700.00p 1.71%
Smiths Group (SMIN) 1,403.00p 1.67%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 670.50p 1.59%
3i Group (III) 665.50p 1.53%
DCC (DCC) 6,325.00p 1.44%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Fresnillo (FRES) 1,244.00p -2.96%
Polymetal International (POLY) 741.00p -2.76%
Tesco (TSCO) 213.40p -2.42%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 5,685.00p -2.24%
Direct Line Insurance Group (DLG) 348.40p -2.13%
Admiral Group (ADM) 1,926.00p -2.08%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 969.00p -2.02%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 477.00p -1.95%
Persimmon (PSN) 1,746.00p -1.80%
easyJet (EZJ) 1,047.00p -1.69%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Thomas Cook Group (TCG) 79.00p 7.41%
Entertainment One Limited (ETO) 225.50p 5.13%
Rotork (ROR) 236.40p 4.32%
Hunting (HTG) 528.50p 4.14%
Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 1,046.00p 3.56%
Petra Diamonds Ltd.(DI) (PDL) 160.50p 3.48%
Evraz (EVR) 271.00p 3.12%
Vectura Group (VEC) 150.70p 3.01%
Weir Group (WEIR) 1,809.00p 2.67%
Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 370.80p 2.60%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Countrywide (CWD) 193.90p -5.23%
CMC Markets (CMCX) 193.00p -4.97%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 213.90p -3.87%
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 2,448.00p -3.77%
PayPoint (PAY) 1,040.00p -3.70%
Sports Direct International (SPD) 305.00p -3.21%
OneSavings Bank (OSB) 328.90p -3.15%
Mitchells & Butlers (MAB) 256.30p -2.99%
Grafton Group Units (GFTU) 571.00p -2.81%
Restaurant Group (RTN) 357.70p -2.80%