London midday: FTSE maintains gains; Rightmove jumps on upgrade
London stocks were holding on to gains by midday on Monday, having taken their opening cue from a positive finish on Wall Street at the end of last week, as investors continued to mull the Bank of England’s latest rate hike.
The FTSE 100 was up 0.3% at 7,539.45.
Despite the positive tone, Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said there are plenty of reasons for investors to be cautious.
"Strong US jobs data last week might suggest the Fed pushes up rates faster and harder than currently expected. Ongoing tensions between Ukraine and Moscow also hang over markets like clouds waiting to unleash a fury of rain," he said.
"The reaction to corporate earnings in the US has been somewhat volatile with extreme movements either up or down. Labour cost pressures remain a worry, and inflationary pressures are certainly darkening the outlook for both consumer and business spending.
"On the UK market, miners were in demand as an ongoing inflationary environment should be positive for metal prices."
Market participants were digesting the latest survey from mortgage lender Halifax, which showed that house prices are expected to slow “considerably” over the next 12 months as households face a cost-of-living squeeze.
Price in January rose 0.3% month on month, the slowest pace since last June in a further confirmation that the post-Covid pandemic recovery is running out of steam as soaring consumer prices dampen sentiment. Year on year, prices were 9.7% higher.
"This situation is expected to become more acute in the short-term as household budgets face even greater pressure from an increase in the cost of living, and rises in interest rates begin to feed through to mortgage rates," said Halifax managing director Russell Galley.
He added that it remained likely that the rate of house price growth "will slow considerably over the next year" and, despite affordability at historically low levels, price rises were outpacing wage growth with younger buyers also struggling to raise deposits.
In equity markets, Rightmove was sitting pretty at the top of the FTSE 100 after an upgrade to ‘buy' from ‘neutral’ at UBS.
Elsewhere, Flutter Entertainment rose following reports over the weekend that it was launching a last-minute bid for the operating licence of the National Lottery.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,539.45 0.31%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 21,789.41 0.36%
techMARK (TASX) 4,394.25 0.20%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Rightmove (RMV) 651.60p 2.45%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 150.85p 1.82%
ITV (ITV) 115.45p 1.72%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 52.25p 1.69%
Prudential (PRU) 1,240.50p 1.64%
Flutter Entertainment (CDI) (FLTR) 10,745.00p 1.56%
Next (NXT) 7,252.00p 1.54%
Phoenix Group Holdings (PHNX) 664.60p 1.50%
Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 1,077.00p 1.46%
Anglo American (AAL) 3,365.00p 1.28%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Evraz (EVR) 452.10p -7.41%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 4,914.00p -1.88%
WPP (WPP) 1,165.50p -1.52%
BP (BP.) 399.75p -1.52%
Tesco (TSCO) 291.15p -1.49%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 284.40p -1.22%
Informa (INF) 549.60p -1.08%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 786.60p -1.06%
BT Group (BT.A) 190.70p -0.91%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,217.00p -0.81%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Mediclinic International (MDC) 338.20p 3.68%
Diversified Energy Company (DEC) 110.60p 3.36%
TBC Bank Group (TBCG) 1,494.00p 3.32%
Pantheon International (PIN) 320.50p 3.05%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 265.80p 3.02%
Clarkson (CKN) 3,300.00p 2.64%
Volution Group (FAN) 517.00p 2.38%
Rotork (ROR) 337.20p 2.31%
Allianz Technology Trust (ATT) 288.00p 2.13%
Kainos Group (KNOS) 1,609.00p 2.03%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Cineworld Group (CINE) 34.69p -3.18%
Indivior (INDV) 212.20p -2.48%
Darktrace (DARK) 368.40p -2.28%
Capita (CPI) 30.49p -1.93%
Future (FUTR) 2,840.00p -1.73%
Hammerson (HMSO) 39.07p -1.64%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 200.60p -1.57%
Trainline (TRN) 227.40p -1.56%
Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 4,068.00p -1.48%
Diploma (DPLM) 2,736.00p -1.37%