London midday: Equities edge higher ahead of FOMC interest rate decision

London stocks rose at midday on Wednesday as investors awaited the Federal Reserve’s decision on interest rates.

The Fed releases its policy decision at 1800 GMT and is expected to keep rates at 0.25% amid low inflation and concerns about the risks arising from a slowdown in emerging markets. While no surprises are expected, the press release will be looked at closely for any hints on when the first rate hike in nearly a decade will happen.

“Investors have been doubting the Fed’s position for a while and the softening in the data in the last couple of months has only increased the belief that rates won’t rise,” said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at Oanda.

“With this being the final meeting before December, no press conference taking place after and the market betting against a rate hike this year, this is the Fed’s final opportunity as a collective to send a clear message. Either they are planning to hike in December or recent events have forced them to hold off until next year. Whatever they opt for, the statement must convey the Fed intentions clearly.”

In other US news, a report from the Mortgage Bankers’ Association showed mortgage applications fell 3.5% in the week to 23 October after a 11.8% rise the previous week.

At 1230 GMT, the US will see the release of the advance goods trade balance.

In the Eurozone, GfK’s forward-looking consumer confidence index fell to 9.4 in November from 9.6, as expected by analysts. GfK said the economic expectations are “decreasing significantly, seemingly as a result of the feelings created by the ongoing refugee crisis in particular”.

In company news, BT jumped on news its £12.5bn acquisition of the EE mobile network has been provisionally approved by UK competition officials unconditionally and without remedies.

British American Tobacco rallied after reporting a better-than-estimated fall in sales for the first nine months of the year.

Lloyds Banking Group declined after reporting a decline in third quarter underlying profit as it was hit by a further charge for insurance mis-selling.

A big faller was Meggitt, which dropped 18.29% as the aerospace and industrial components supplier warned that full year profits will be well below forecasts after it endured softer trading during the third quarter, with a "marked deterioration" in September in energy markets.

Chilean copper producer Antofagasta edged lower after cutting its annual production target for the third time this year as it reported fairly stable output for the third quarter compared with the second.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 6,391.66 0.41%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 17,054.95 0.06%
techMARK (TASX) 3,080.82 -0.33%

FTSE 100 - Risers

BT Group (BT.A) 465.75p 3.04%
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 2,553.00p 2.49%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 3,876.50p 2.19%
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 2,082.00p 2.06%
Fresnillo (FRES) 749.00p 2.04%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 4,601.00p 1.88%
St James's Place (STJ) 953.50p 1.54%
Legal & General Group (LGEN) 262.60p 1.51%
CRH (CRH) 1,773.00p 1.49%
BP (BP.) 385.10p 1.34%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Meggitt (MGGT) 376.90p -18.31%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 73.98p -4.42%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 527.50p -3.12%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 2,388.00p -1.83%
Anglo American (AAL) 549.20p -1.47%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,076.00p -1.37%
Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 170.70p -0.99%
Next (NXT) 7,885.00p -0.76%
Pearson (PSON) 862.00p -0.69%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 508.50p -0.68%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Hunting (HTG) 371.00p 4.18%
Just Retirement Group (JRG) 167.90p 3.64%
BTG (BTG) 554.50p 3.07%
Drax Group (DRX) 273.30p 2.86%
P2P Global Investments C (P2P2) 984.00p 2.50%
Halfords Group (HFD) 437.60p 2.15%
Bwin.party Digital Entertainment (BPTY) 108.40p 2.07%
Auto Trader Group (AUTO) 388.60p 1.99%
Man Group (EMG) 166.50p 1.96%
Wood Group (John) (WG.) 601.50p 1.69%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Petra Diamonds Ltd.(DI) (PDL) 71.25p -11.44%
Bank of Georgia Holdings (BGEO) 1,933.00p -5.71%
Cobham (COB) 279.50p -3.85%
SIG (SHI) 128.00p -3.54%
Foxtons Group (FOXT) 196.90p -3.53%
TalkTalk Telecom Group (TALK) 246.40p -3.41%
Enterprise Inns (ETI) 101.50p -2.87%
Ultra Electronics Holdings (ULE) 1,720.00p -2.27%
Senior (SNR) 232.60p -2.02%
International Personal Finance (IPF) 391.00p -1.98%