London midday: FTSE pushes higher as HSBC, Whitbread gain

London stocks had extended gains by midday on Tuesday, helped along by solid performances from the likes of HSBC and Whitbread, as investors eyed the start of the Federal Reserve’s two-day policy meeting.

The FTSE 100 was 0.5% firmer at 8,188.91.

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: "The spigot has been opened since it attained its new record high and the FTSE 100 continued to flow higher on Tuesday amid a raft of corporate announcements.

"The index took its cue from gains on Wall Street with the next key test of the relative optimism displayed by the market coming tomorrow with the latest meeting of the US Federal Reserve.

"While the Fed is expected to maintain the status quo on interest rates, commentary on its current thinking on the trajectory of rates in the remainder of the year will likely have a significant impact on markets."

On home shores, figures from the Bank of England showed that mortgage approvals continued to rise in March, hitting an 18-month high.

According to the latest Money and Credit report, net mortgage approvals for house purchases rose from 60,497 in February to 61,325 last month, the highest since September 2022.

It was, however, marginally below analyst expectations for 61,500.

The effective interest rate - the actual interest paid - on newly-drawn mortgages decreased by 17 basis points to 4.73%.

Net consumer credit borrowing, meanwhile, increased to £1.58bn from £1.43bn in February. The rise was driven by net borrowing on credit cards, which jumped to £0.7bn from £0.5bn.

Net borrowing elsewhere, including car dealership finance and personal loans, was unchanged at £0.9bn.

Households also deposited an additional £8.5bn with banks and building societies, the highest net inflow since October 2022.

Peter Arnold, UK chief economist at EY, said: "The recovery in mortgage demand continued in March. However, the interest in mortgage rates over recent months appears to have taken some of the momentum out of the recovery.

"With swap rates having climbed further during April, and mortgage rates continuing to edge up in response, the EY Item Club expects the recovery in approvals to continue to cool in the near term."

Investors were also mulling the latest figures from the British Retail Consortium and NielsenIQ, which showed that the price increases at UK tills fell to their lowest since the end of 2021 in April as food inflation eased for the 12th straight month.

In equity markets, HSBC was the top gainer on the FTSE 100 as it announced that chief executive Noel Quinn was unexpectedly stepping down after nearly five years in the job, and released first-quarter results.

Quinn, 62, will remain in post until a new CEO is appointed. The news came as the lender posted a 1.8% drop in first-quarter profit to $12.7bn (£10bn), slightly higher than expectations and unveiled a $3bn share buyback as revenues increased 3% to $20.8bn.

"After an intense five years, it is now the right time for me to get a better balance between my personal and business life," Quinn said.

Whitbread also rose it announced a £150m share buyback and beefed up its dividend after seeing its bottom line jump by more than a third in the year to 29 February, and unveiled plans to cut 1,500 jobs as it turns underperforming restaurants into more hotels.

Hargreaves Lansdown and Rotork were both higher on the back of well-received trading updates.

Telecom Plus gained as it said that full-year adjusted pre-tax profit was set to be towards the upper end of market expectations after a record year.

On the downside, Prudential declined even as it reported an 11% rise in first-quarter net new business profit.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 8,188.91 0.51%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,089.42 0.02%
techMARK (TASX) 4,603.58 0.17%

FTSE 100 - Risers

HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 693.60p 3.82%
Whitbread (WTB) 3,160.00p 3.71%
Intermediate Capital Group (ICG) 2,082.00p 2.46%
Beazley (BEZ) 671.00p 2.05%
Haleon (HLN) 337.60p 1.90%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 266.20p 1.45%
Frasers Group (FRAS) 832.00p 1.40%
Tesco (TSCO) 296.00p 1.37%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 6,048.00p 1.24%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RKT) 4,512.00p 1.23%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Prudential (PRU) 706.40p -4.72%
Fresnillo (FRES) 571.50p -3.22%
Vodafone Group (VOD) 68.40p -2.29%
Anglo American (AAL) 2,689.00p -2.22%
Entain (ENT) 804.20p -1.71%
Centrica (CNA) 129.25p -1.37%
BAE Systems (BA.) 1,336.50p -1.37%
Convatec Group (CTEC) 250.20p -1.18%
Halma (HLMA) 2,219.00p -0.89%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 175.80p -0.79%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 831.00p 5.78%
Playtech (PTEC) 539.00p 4.86%
Telecom Plus (TEP) 1,782.00p 3.97%
Rotork (ROR) 326.60p 3.35%
Mobico Group (MCG) 56.30p 2.64%
Tate & Lyle (TATE) 658.00p 2.41%
TBC Bank Group (TBCG) 3,540.00p 2.31%
Keller Group (KLR) 1,116.00p 2.01%
4Imprint Group (FOUR) 6,320.00p 1.61%
NextEnergy Solar Fund Limited Red (NESF) 76.05p 1.40%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

CMC Markets (CMCX) 266.50p -2.56%
PPHE Hotel Group Ltd (PPH) 1,460.00p -2.34%
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 152.70p -2.12%
Baltic Classifieds Group (BCG) 231.50p -2.11%
TI Fluid Systems (TIFS) 140.40p -1.82%
Indivior (INDV) 1,437.00p -1.78%
Target Healthcare Reit Ltd (THRL) 76.80p -1.66%
SDCL Energy Efficiency Income Trust (SEIT) 60.00p -1.64%
Discoverie Group (DSCV) 736.00p -1.60%
IntegraFin Holding (IHP) 302.00p -1.47%