London midday: FTSE flat as investors mull City regulation shake-up
London stocks were flat by midday on Friday, as investors mulled Chancellor Jeremy Hunt's City regulation shake-up and looked ahead to key central bank announcements next week.
The FTSE 100 was steady at 7,475.02.
Markets participants were digesting details of Hunt’s plans, which have been published online. These include a relaxation of rules on what banks can do with their money and a new requirement for regulators to make London more competitive internationally, among other things.
Victoria Scholar, head of investment at Interactive Investor, said: "Hunt is trying to prove to the financial sector that he is very much pro-business and in favour of the City of London as a key growth engine to the economy.
"However there is a risk that the Treasury is acting myopically, quickly forgetting the pre-2008 excessive risk taking that ultimately led to the global financial crisis and the introduction of new regulation to prevent another similar catastrophe."
More broadly, CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson said: "The main focus of attention continues to be on next week’s central bank meetings of the Federal Reserve, ECB and Bank of England, and guidance on the likely glide path for rates heading into 2023, as well as two important CPI reports, one from the UK, and more importantly the November CPI report from the US."
In equity markets, InterContinental Hotels jumped after an upgrade to ‘buy’ from ‘hold’ at Peel Hunt.
Housebuilder Berkeley Group nudged up after it backed its full-year profit outlook but posted a drop in first-half profits.
Investment manager Man Group surged as it announced a share buyback programme of up to $125m.
Primark owner Associated British Foods ticked down as it maintained full-year guidance, saying it continued to expect further significant input cost inflation, but the volatility of input costs had diminished.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,475.02 0.04%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 18,841.77 0.09%
techMARK (TASX) 4,397.32 0.18%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Smith (DS) (SMDS) 325.70p 4.06%
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 4,943.00p 3.15%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 695.20p 2.87%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 93.71p 2.54%
Smurfit Kappa Group (CDI) (SKG) 3,074.00p 2.50%
Mondi (MNDI) 1,493.50p 2.15%
Dechra Pharmaceuticals (DPH) 2,728.00p 1.94%
Prudential (PRU) 1,079.00p 1.94%
Whitbread (WTB) 2,634.00p 1.86%
Intermediate Capital Group (ICP) 1,177.50p 1.77%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Fresnillo (FRES) 865.40p -2.26%
Frasers Group (FRAS) 796.50p -2.21%
Anglo American (AAL) 3,244.00p -1.68%
GSK (GSK) 1,460.20p -1.58%
BP (BP.) 456.95p -1.51%
Glencore (GLEN) 542.40p -1.13%
Harbour Energy (HBR) 299.00p -1.09%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 133.18p -1.03%
BAE Systems (BA.) 823.00p -1.01%
Shell (SHEL) 2,289.00p -0.89%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Man Group (EMG) 216.60p 6.02%
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 150.30p 2.95%
888 Holdings (DI) (888) 97.35p 2.58%
Auction Technology Group (ATG) 770.00p 2.53%
Hilton Food Group (HFG) 512.00p 2.40%
Energean (ENOG) 1,265.00p 2.35%
Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 2,438.00p 2.22%
Domino's Pizza Group (DOM) 288.80p 2.05%
Volution Group (FAN) 354.00p 2.02%
Babcock International Group (BAB) 295.60p 1.93%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 158.70p -3.76%
Moonpig Group (MOON) 126.00p -3.52%
Abrdn (ABDN) 186.40p -2.41%
Great Portland Estates (GPE) 485.20p -2.14%
Lancashire Holdings Limited (LRE) 598.00p -2.13%
TP Icap Group (TCAP) 166.60p -2.12%
W.A.G Payment Solutions (WPS) 78.40p -2.00%
Big Yellow Group (BYG) 1,115.00p -1.85%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 36.56p -1.77%
Sequoia Economic Infrastructure Income Fund Limited (SEQI) 85.20p -1.73%