London midday: Investors take profits after FTSE hits fresh intraday record

After a bright start, UK stocks dropped into the red by Monday lunchtime as investors assessed a raft of economic data and took profits after markets reached new record highs.

The FTSE 100 was down 0.01% at 6,945.68 by midday, erasing gains after rising to a new intraday all-time high of 6,974.26 in mid-morning trade.

Asian markets rallied Monday after China’s central bank cut interest rates. The People's Bank of China cut its benchmark interest rate by a quarter point for the second time in three months, to 5.35%, and lowered its one-year benchmark deposit rate by the same amount to 2.5%.

Contrasting data reports on Chinese manufacturing activity in February were also released overnight, but they broadly indicated an up-trend in growth for the sector. Both the HSBC/Markit and government purchasing managers’ indices (PMIs) both came in ahead of expectations, though the latter continued to signal a contraction, remaining below 50.

The UK manufacturing PMI rose from 53.1 to 54.1 in February, while the final estimate of the Eurozone manufacturing PMI was revised slightly downwards from 51.1 to 51.0.

Other data released on Monday morning confirmed that the Eurozone was in deflation for the third straight month in February, with consumer prices falling 0.3%, though not as bad as the 0.5% decline expected.

The figures came ahead of a policy meeting on Thursday at which the European Central Bank will launch its €1trn quantitative easing (QE) programme.

Banks rise, miners erase gains

Banking stocks such as Barclays and RBS were among the best performers as share prices rebounded after a weak outing last week following some poorly-received annual results. 2014 figures from Barclays, the last UK lender to report, are due out on Tuesday.

However mining stocks, which had risen early on, were trading in negative territory by midday, including BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Anglo American.

Oil stocks such as Tullow and Shell were trading lower as crude prices weakened with Brent down 2.1% at $61.24 a barrel.

Intertek, the product testing and certification outfit, was higher after forecasting a improvement in organic revenue growth in 2015 after a 0.6% decline last year. Profits were down 4.7% in 2014, though the company still lifted its dividend by 6.7%

Asset manager Aberdeen was subdued after receiving a downgrade to ‘neutral’ at JPMorgan Cazenove.

Market Movers
techMARK 3,161.27 +0.03%
FTSE 100 6,945.68 -0.01%
FTSE 250 17,288.19 +0.08%

FTSE 100 - Risers
Intertek Group (ITRK) 2,624.00p +3.72%
Kingfisher (KGF) 374.00p +2.35%
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 375.00p +2.12%
Barclays (BARC) 261.60p +1.83%
Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 1,148.00p +1.59%
British Land Co (BLND) 841.00p +1.51%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 1,274.00p +1.43%
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 2,686.00p +1.36%
Hammerson (HMSO) 684.00p +1.26%
ITV (ITV) 228.00p +1.20%

FTSE 100 - Fallers
Tullow Oil (TLW) 361.00p -6.79%
Aggreko (AGK) 1,679.00p -1.70%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 934.00p -1.58%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 1,172.00p -1.51%
Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 2,172.50p -1.50%
Weir Group (WEIR) 1,680.00p -1.41%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,594.00p -1.39%
Babcock International Group (BAB) 997.00p -1.29%
Shire Plc (SHP) 5,215.00p -1.14%
Associated British Foods (ABF) 3,090.00p -1.12%

FTSE 250 - Risers
Afren (AFR) 10.60p +23.18%
Allied Minds (ALM) 667.00p +12.10%
Oxford Instruments (OXIG) 797.50p +5.42%
Alent (ALNT) 366.50p +4.00%
Keller Group (KLR) 1,044.00p +3.06%
Infinis Energy (INFI) 206.20p +3.05%
Rentokil Initial (RTO) 138.90p +2.66%
Berendsen (BRSN) 1,129.00p +2.64%
National Express Group (NEX) 291.20p +2.50%
Greggs (GRG) 898.50p +2.45%

FTSE 250 - Fallers
Amlin (AML) 504.00p -4.82%
Premier Oil (PMO) 160.80p -4.57%
Ultra Electronics Holdings (ULE) 1,723.00p -4.28%
Drax Group (DRX) 400.20p -3.24%
Serco Group (SRP) 215.80p -2.97%
Cairn Energy (CNE) 197.90p -2.75%
Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 246.80p -2.68%
RPS Group (RPS) 257.80p -2.64%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 578.00p -2.61%
Just Retirement Group (JRG) 172.80p -2.59%