London midday: Stocks drop into the red after German data, ECB stress tests

UK stocks had erased early gains by Monday lunchtime as ongoing concerns about Germany and the health of the wider Eurozone economy weighed on sentiment.

The FTSE 100 was down 0.2% at 6,377 by midday, pulling back sharply after having touched an intraday high of 6,443.76 in early deals.

News that German business confidence dropped to a 22-month low in October weighed on stocks mid-morning. The German Ifo Insitute's business climate index fell from 104.7 to 103.2, well below the 104.5 consensus forecast.

Results from European Central Bank (ECB) stress tests on banks were also in focus, after they found that 25 of the Eurozone's 130 largest lenders had failed a health check at the end of last year with a total capital shortfall of €25bn identified.

However, most have since repaired their finances, leaving only €10bn to be raised to plug holes in balance sheets, with Italian, Greek and Cypriot banks faring the worst.

Analyst Craig Erlam from Alpari UK said: "Everything was looking more positive earlier on in the session but it seems that the relief that came from the results of the stress-test results has been short-lived."

He said that this wasn't helped by comments from ECB vice president Vitor Constancio who claimed the tests didn't include a deflationary scenario because officials thought it was unlikely.

"These tests are meant to take into consideration the worst case scenario and for some bizarre reason, they have failed to do so because the very people that have been wrong on inflation repeatedly over the last couple of years, didn’t believe it would happen. It’s no wonder the relief was short-lived," Erlam said.

Nervousness ahead of the Federal Open Market Committee meeting on Wednesday was also prompting an element of caution of the markets, with policymakers expected to announce the end of quantitative easing in the States.

Travel stocks rise, banks fall

Travel stocks were among the best performers as investors continued to search for bargains after recent Ebola-related weakness in the sector. TUI Travel, Intercontinental Hotels, Carnival, IAG and Easyjet were putting in decent gains, with the latter two being helped by positive comments from Morgan Stanley analysts, who recommended investors to buy the stocks with 'overweight' ratings.

UK-listed banks were mostly lower despite the news that they all have passed the European stress tests. Lloyds, HSBC, Barclays and RBS were all in the red.

Lloyds was suffering the worst on reports that the lender will shortly unveil plans to close 200 branches. Meanwhile, a ratings downgrade by Jefferies from 'hold' to 'underperform' also weighed on the stock, with the broker raising concerns about how the bank will fare in the upcoming stress tests by the Prudential Regulation Authority.

Salamander Energy saw shares surge over 20% after the oil and gas group confirmed press speculation that it has received a two takeover approaches - one from Ophir Energy and another from a consortium of investors.

Production volumes at Petra Diamonds reached a record in its first quarter, but the miner warned of a "seasonal softness" in the diamond market, causing shares to fall.

The wider mining sector was largely lower, with Antofagasta, Vedanta and Hochschild Mining among the worst performers.

Anglo American declined despite reporting the delivery of the first ore on ship from its Minas-Rio iron ore project in Brazil while Randgold slipped after underwhelming investors with a positive update at its Tongon mine in north Côte d'lvoire.

Market Movers
techMARK 2,694.60 -0.14%
FTSE 100 6,376.54 -0.19%
FTSE 250 15,068.49 -0.14%

FTSE 100 - Risers
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 2,271.00p +2.44%
TUI Travel (TT.) 374.00p +2.30%
Reed Elsevier (REL) 996.00p +1.84%
Admiral Group (ADM) 1,293.00p +1.33%
SABMiller (SAB) 3,395.50p +1.13%
Unilever (ULVR) 2,430.00p +1.00%
Compass Group (CPG) 976.00p +0.93%
British Sky Broadcasting Group (BSY) 869.50p +0.93%
Centrica (CNA) 295.20p +0.85%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 844.50p +0.78%

FTSE 100 - Fallers
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 74.88p -2.40%
Aggreko (AGK) 1,500.00p -2.34%
Smiths Group (SMIN) 1,130.00p -1.91%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 780.50p -1.82%
Fresnillo (FRES) 753.00p -1.76%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 681.50p -1.66%
St James's Place (STJ) 670.00p -1.47%
GKN (GKN) 303.10p -1.46%
Glencore (GLEN) 312.65p -1.36%
Aberdeen Asset Management (ADN) 406.10p -1.31%

FTSE 250 - Risers
SSP Group (SSPG) 247.00p +4.22%
Renishaw (RSW) 1,651.00p +3.84%
Card Factory (CARD) 223.30p +2.67%
Lancashire Holdings Limited (LRE) 656.50p +2.02%
Premier Farnell (PFL) 179.30p +1.88%
Infinis Energy (INFI) 215.40p +1.84%
Domino's Pizza Group (DOM) 620.00p +1.56%
IP Group (IPO) 190.40p +1.55%
Nostrum Oil & Gas (NOG) 670.00p +1.44%
Home Retail Group (HOME) 177.20p +1.37%

FTSE 250 - Fallers
Ophir Energy (OPHR) 194.20p -4.19%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 108.50p -3.98%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 802.00p -3.43%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 226.50p -3.25%
Supergroup (SGP) 926.00p -2.83%
Petra Diamonds Ltd.(DI) (PDL) 170.70p -2.57%
Afren (AFR) 92.45p -2.48%
Kazakhmys (KAZ) 224.70p -2.43%
Keller Group (KLR) 768.50p -2.23%
BlackRock World Mining Trust (BRWM) 352.00p -2.22%