London midday: Shell paces the gains after Q3 results

London stocks were still in the black by midday on Thursday, underpinned by well-received results from Shell, as investors eyed the latest policy announcement from the European Central Bank.

The FTSE 100 was up 0.3% at 7,079.65.

Laith Khalaf, head of investment analysis at AJ Bell, said: "US tech may be letting the side down when it comes to third quarter earnings but bumper profit from index heavyweight Shell helped lift the FTSE 100 on Thursday morning.

"Once again, the wider market seems to be pinning some hopes on central banks looking at evidence of a deteriorating economy and reacting accordingly by slowing the pace of rate rises.

"Unilever’s third quarter numbers highlighted an extremely bleak consumer outlook in both emerging and developed markets and the likes of the US Federal Reserve will increasingly need to decide how much pain they are prepared to inflict as they look to bring surging prices back under control."

The FTSE 100 was outperforming its European peers, with the benchmark Stoxx 600 index down 0.5%. Disappointing earnings from Facebook owner Meta weighed on sentiment, along with heavy losses for Credit Suisse, which tumbled after announcing job cuts and a big third-quarter loss.

On home shores, the latest survey from the Confederation of British Industry showed that retail sales bounced back in October. The CBI’s reported sales balance for the month rose to +18 from -20 in September.

The balance is the weighted difference between the percentage of retailers reporting an increase and those reporting a decrease.

CBI principal economist Martin Sartorius said: "Retail sales volumes recovered to grow at a firm pace this month, but retailers continue to face a challenging operating environment due to rising costs, higher interest rates, and labour shortages.

"The Government must continue in its efforts to re-establish macroeconomic stability and restore business confidence. Delivering comprehensive reform on business rates and the Apprenticeship Levy would be helpful first steps to encourage business investment through these difficult times."

In equity markets, oil giant Shell surged to the top of the FTSE 100 as it announced a $4bn share buyback and posted better-than-expected third-quarter profits. Adjusted earnings rose to $9.5bn from $4.1bn in the third quarter a year earlier, but down from the record $11.5bn posted in the second quarter of the year. Analysts had been expecting net earnings of $9bn.

BP also rallied.

Lloyds nudged higher, having been weaker earlier in the session, after it lifted net income guidance despite a fall in third-quarter profit and rise in bad loan charges. The company said it now expected net interest margin, a key measure of the difference between lending and savings rates, to be above 2.90% compared with a 2.84% in the year to date.

Pre-tax profit fell 26% to £1.5bn. Net income rose 12% to £13bn on the back of surging interest rates with impairment charges soaring to £668m from a release of £119m a year ago.

Unilever was flat after the consumer goods giant posted a 10.6% rise in third-quarter underlying sales growth and lifted its sales guidance for the year, but warned over the challenges of high inflation.

Airtel Africa slumped after its half-year pre-tax profit missed analysts’ expectations.

Anglo American was also down after the miner reported a slight fall in third-quarter output, as it ramped up its steelmaking coal longwall operations and posted a strong performance at its De Beers diamond unit.

Miners more generally were under the cosh, with Rio Tinto, Glencore and Antofagasta among the worst performers.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,079.65 0.33%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 18,129.70 0.13%
techMARK (TASX) 4,242.98 -0.25%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Shell (SHEL) 2,413.50p 4.96%
BP (BP.) 479.80p 2.96%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 579.80p 2.04%
Whitbread (WTB) 2,621.00p 1.83%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 535.60p 1.83%
Harbour Energy (HBR) 389.40p 1.78%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 384.20p 1.56%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 195.10p 1.54%
Entain (ENT) 1,264.00p 1.53%
Admiral Group (ADM) 2,014.00p 1.46%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Airtel Africa (AAF) 116.80p -8.03%
Anglo American (AAL) 2,660.00p -4.06%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 4,670.50p -3.56%
Glencore (GLEN) 503.50p -2.40%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,199.50p -2.28%
Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 740.40p -2.17%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 4,462.00p -2.02%
RS Group (RS1) 983.00p -1.99%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RKT) 5,620.00p -1.78%
Intertek Group (ITRK) 3,808.00p -1.42%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 1,643.00p 4.58%
888 Holdings (DI) (888) 97.55p 4.00%
Moonpig Group (MOON) 135.90p 3.58%
Jupiter Fund Management (JUP) 110.20p 3.28%
Mitchells & Butlers (MAB) 113.90p 3.17%
TBC Bank Group (TBCG) 1,908.00p 3.14%
Dr. Martens (DOCS) 246.00p 3.10%
Big Yellow Group (BYG) 1,170.00p 2.90%
Capital & Counties Properties (CAPC) 107.90p 2.86%
Trainline (TRN) 340.90p 2.65%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Bridgepoint Group (Reg S) (BPT) 212.80p -3.54%
Morgan Advanced Materials (MGAM) 252.00p -3.45%
Darktrace (DARK) 350.00p -3.37%
HGCapital Trust (HGT) 377.00p -3.33%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 60.05p -3.30%
Caledonia Investments (CLDN) 3,300.00p -3.23%
Renishaw (RSW) 3,618.00p -2.58%
C&C Group (CDI) (CCR) 161.50p -2.42%
AVI Global Trust (AGT) 181.80p -1.94%
European Opportunities Trust (EOT) 670.00p -1.90%