London midday: Stocks climb as investors sift through earnings

London stocks were higher on Thursday as investors weighed a batch of corporate releases and a vote by the House of Commons approving the Brexit bill.

At 1209 GMT, the FTSE 100 rose 0.26% to 7,207.63 points.

The pound climbed 0.07% against the dollar to $1.2550 and gained 0.24% versus the euro to €1.1750.

Late on Wednesday, MPs approved the historic Brexit bill on its third reading by 494 votes to 122, with a majority of 372, which will now be passed to the House of Lords.

This means that Prime Minister Theresa May’s timetable remains on track, with reports saying that the government plans to get the bill through parliament by 7 March for May to trigger Article 50 on 9 March, when EU leaders meet in Brussels and a day after the Budget on 8 March.

Barclays said the Lords and the Commons often “ping pong” bills back and forth until a final text is agreed upon but if the Lords quickly votes in favour during the third reading, and there are no amendments, it will go for Royal Assent as it is and become law.

Looking further ahead, Barclays' analysts said: "We believe full negotiations will last much longer than the two years set out for withdrawal.

"New trading relationships with the EU and the RoW will likely be complex and drawn out, exacerbated by a lack of political clarity and focus. As a result, firms are likely to now review their operations along the entire value chain, with tariffs only being a small part of their worries."

On the data front, a survey showed a pick-up in UK house prices in January. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors’ house price balance rose to 25% last month from 23% in December, beating expectations of 22%. The survey also said rents in the UK are expected to rise 25% in the next five years while house prices are set to increase 20%.

Real estate investment stocks rose following the report, including Hammerson, Land Securities Group and British Land Company.

GlaxoSmithKline was also on the front foot after saying it hit its full year earnings target on Wednesday. Guidance for core earnings in 2017 was for a rise of 5-7% at constant rate if no generic competition is launched in the year.

Fund manager Ashmore surged after it said pre-tax profit in the six months to the end of December rose 94% to £121.5m, while net revenue increased 24% to £144.1m.

On the downside, the mining sector was in the red including Anglo American, Antofagasta and Glencore as gold prices pared gains.

Smith & Nephew declined even as it reported full year sales in line with forecasts and earnings that beat consensus despite declining sales in the fourth quarter.

Thomas Cook was under the cosh as it reported a narrowing of losses for the first quarter but sounded a cautious note on the outlook.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,208.63 0.28%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 18,601.52 -0.02%
techMARK (TASX) 3,321.30 0.08%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Barclays (BARC) 228.30p 1.49%
Mondi (MNDI) 1,796.00p 1.41%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 1,040.00p 1.36%
BP (BP.) 461.85p 1.29%
Legal & General Group (LGEN) 241.20p 1.26%
Hammerson (HMSO) 569.50p 1.24%
Prudential (PRU) 1,587.00p 1.24%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 4,540.00p 1.24%
Standard Life (SL.) 361.50p 1.20%
Aviva (AV.) 499.90p 1.19%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Anglo American (AAL) 1,294.50p -2.74%
Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,169.00p -2.66%
Whitbread (WTB) 3,962.00p -2.10%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 819.50p -2.03%
Smurfit Kappa Group (SKG) 2,117.00p -1.99%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 173.00p -1.82%
Persimmon (PSN) 1,983.00p -1.64%
Glencore (GLEN) 307.05p -1.62%
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,544.00p -1.59%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 499.50p -1.58%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Ashmore Group (ASHM) 337.60p 5.83%
Pennon Group (PNN) 845.50p 3.55%
Shawbrook Group (SHAW) 260.10p 2.89%
Bankers Inv Trust (BNKR) 736.00p 2.72%
OneSavings Bank (OSB) 357.50p 2.70%
International Personal Finance (IPF) 182.10p 2.59%
Vectura Group (VEC) 139.10p 2.13%
Capital & Counties Properties (CAPC) 292.70p 2.06%
AA (AA.) 253.30p 1.97%
Mitie Group (MTO) 205.30p 1.94%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Thomas Cook Group (TCG) 85.25p -7.39%
RPC Group (RPC) 1,005.00p -5.10%
Henderson Group (HGG) 211.20p -2.63%
Dairy Crest Group (DCG) 601.50p -2.43%
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 2,861.00p -2.05%
Stagecoach Group (SGC) 213.20p -1.98%
Bellway (BWY) 2,572.00p -1.87%
Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 523.00p -1.78%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 1,033.00p -1.71%
Morgan Advanced Materials (MGAM) 304.20p -1.39%