London midday: FTSE pushes up amid retail avalanche; US CPI eyed

London stocks had extended gains by midday on Thursday as investors waded through a deluge of retail updates and eyed the latest US inflation data.

The FTSE 100 was up 0.7% at 7,781.84.

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: "On a ‘Super Thursday’ for Christmas trading updates, the FTSE 100 maintained its recent momentum to trade higher.

"So far it feels like retailers are doing better than feared - with some notable exceptions. How far you extrapolate this resilience depends on your view of whether households have already faced the worst of the impact of mounting bills and rising interest rates.

"However, with many people still to roll off cheap fixed-term mortgage deals and further increases in the energy price cap to come, there is certainly no room for complacency.

"Later on, US inflation figures are released. These could determine whether the relatively positive sentiment seen so far in 2023 can be maintained, given the influence this data point has on the Federal Reserve’s interest rate policy."

The US consumer price index for December is due at 1330 GMT.

In UK equity markets, online fashion retailer Asos surged to the top of the FTSE 250 despite reporting a slide in sales over the crucial festive trading period. It said the UK had been hit by weak consumer sentiment, first in September and then again in December, which was further affected by disruption in the delivery market after Royal Mail workers carried out a series of strikes.

Neil Wilson, chief market analyst at Markets.com, said the shares were rallying "in the absence of a profit warning".

Meanwhile, broker Peel Hunt said that in the context of being the most shorted stock and weak expectations, the update was "relatively stable".

AJ Bell’s Mould said investors were taking a positive view, "bidding up the shares in the belief that the new boss is swiftly taking action to sort the business out".

"Chief executive José Antonio Ramos Calamonte doesn’t want to go back to the old days where the key focus was sales growth. His focus is now on profitable growth and generating good returns from the money invested in the business," he said.

Sticking with retail, Tesco popped into the black following earlier losses, after the supermarket chain reiterated full-year profit guidance as it posted strong Christmas sales, while Marks & Spencer fell despite posting a jump in sales over the Christmas period.

Halfords shares tumbled after the motoring and cycling products retailer cut its full-year profit guidance amid weakness in the consumer tyre market and labour market issues. The company now expects underlying pre-tax profit for FY23 of between £50m and £60m, down from previous guidance of £65m to £75m.

Discount retailer B&M was the worst performer on the top-flight index as it traded without entitlement to the dividend.

Away from retail, housebuilder Persimmon was sitting pretty at the top of the FTSE 100 after saying it had delivered 14,868 new homes to customers in 2022, towards the top end of its guidance, but warning over the outlook for this year.

British Gas owner Centrica rose after it lifted earnings guidance again as volumes remained strong amid surging energy prices for consumers.

Premier Inn owner Whitbread also racked up solid gains as it posted a rise in third-quarter sales, highlighting a strong performance in the UK and further progress in Germany.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,781.84 0.74%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,704.06 0.93%
techMARK (TASX) 4,510.20 0.57%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Persimmon (PSN) 1,377.50p 6.25%
M&G (MNG) 202.30p 6.03%
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 159.25p 5.64%
Centrica (CNA) 96.44p 5.05%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 441.30p 4.35%
Fresnillo (FRES) 975.20p 4.01%
Whitbread (WTB) 2,967.00p 3.92%
Vodafone Group (VOD) 91.10p 3.73%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 111.50p 3.34%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 151.90p 3.29%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 434.00p -3.96%
SSE (SSE) 1,659.00p -1.98%
Sage Group (SGE) 770.40p -1.61%
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 2,170.00p -1.59%
Experian (EXPN) 2,846.00p -1.52%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 5,050.00p -1.02%
Halma (HLMA) 2,113.00p -0.94%
Beazley (BEZ) 661.00p -0.83%
Intertek Group (ITRK) 4,269.00p -0.65%
3i Group (III) 1,418.50p -0.53%

FTSE 250 - Risers

ASOS (ASC) 677.00p 15.53%
Molten Ventures (GROW) 407.00p 6.82%
Volution Group (FAN) 401.50p 6.08%
Mitchells & Butlers (MAB) 171.40p 5.35%
TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 163.25p 5.25%
Shaftesbury (SHB) 384.60p 5.08%
Hilton Food Group (HFG) 574.00p 4.74%
easyJet (EZJ) 410.30p 4.51%
Trainline (TRN) 300.80p 4.44%
Bellway (BWY) 2,120.00p 4.13%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

W.A.G Payment Solutions (WPS) 72.60p -1.89%
CLS Holdings (CLI) 150.40p -1.57%
Diploma (DPLM) 2,822.00p -1.19%
4Imprint Group (FOUR) 4,295.00p -1.15%
Primary Health Properties (PHP) 115.10p -0.95%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 142.10p -0.91%
Fidelity China Special Situations (FCSS) 277.50p -0.89%
Oxford Instruments (OXIG) 2,225.00p -0.89%
RIT Capital Partners (RCP) 2,040.00p -0.73%
Essentra (ESNT) 215.00p -0.69%