London midday: Stocks down amid earnings deluge; eurozone inflation in focus

London stocks were off lows but still in the red by midday on Thursday as investors waded through an avalanche of corporate news and digested the latest eurozone inflation data.

The FTSE 100 was down 0.2% at 7,901.94.

Preliminary data released earlier by Eurostat showed that eurozone inflation eased less than expected in February.

Headline inflation in the bloc ticked down to 8.5% year-over-year in February from 8.6% in January. This was above consensus expectations for a decline to 8.2%.

Food, alcohol & tobacco inflation rose to 15% from 14.1%, while energy inflation declined to 13.7% from 18.9%.

Meanwhile, the core rate of inflation - which excludes energy, food, alcohol and tobacco - rose to a record 5.6% in February from 5.3% the month before, coming in above expectations for it to be unchanged.

Separate figures from Eurostat showed that headline eurozone unemployment was unchanged at an upwardly-revised 6.7% in January, in line with consensus expectations.

Jack Allen-Reynolds, deputy chief eurozone economist at Capital Economics, said: "February’s increase in core inflation will reinforce ECB policymakers’ conviction that significant rate increases are needed.

"For some time we have been forecasting a 50 basis points hike at the meeting in two weeks’ time and another in May, but further hikes at later meetings now look increasingly likely."

In equity markets, insurer Beazley slumped after it reported a drop in full-year profit as it took a hit from investment losses.

GSK spinoff Haleon lost ground as it said full-year adjusted operating profit rose 13.8% and that it expects organic revenue growth of 4% to 6% for 2023, and for the adjusted operating margin to be "broadly "flat".

Flutter fell even as it reported strengthened revenues, boosted by acquisitions and a strong performance in the US.

ITV was down after the broadcaster reported lower annual profits due to tougher economic conditions and the investment made in its ITVX streaming service.

Taylor Wimpey nudged lower as it warned that completions were set to fall this year, the latest housebuilder to see higher mortgage costs and the cost-of-living crisis knock buyer confidence after a profit warning from Persimmon on Wednesday.

HSBC, Hargreaves Lansdown and Berkeley were all lower as they traded without entitlement to the dividend.

Spire Healthcare slid despite saying it swung to a profit in 2022.

On the upside, CRH surged after the building materials group posted a jump in full-year earnings and sales, and said it was planning to recommend a transition to a US primary listing this year.

Melrose gained after it said 2022 profits came in higher than expected and forecast a significantly stronger performance from its aerospace unit this year.

National Express and Coats Group also advanced after results.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,901.94 -0.16%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,865.14 -0.03%
techMARK (TASX) 4,610.84 -0.62%

FTSE 100 - Risers

CRH (CDI) (CRH) 4,343.00p 9.71%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 156.50p 1.62%
Croda International (CRDA) 6,658.00p 1.34%
Centrica (CNA) 104.80p 1.11%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 5,620.00p 1.08%
SEGRO (SGRO) 811.20p 1.05%
BP (BP.) 555.60p 0.96%
Severn Trent (SVT) 2,688.00p 0.90%
National Grid (NG.) 1,025.50p 0.84%
SSE (SSE) 1,727.00p 0.82%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Beazley (BEZ) 616.50p -9.67%
Haleon (HLN) 310.75p -4.85%
HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 616.80p -3.67%
Flutter Entertainment (CDI) (FLTR) 13,000.00p -3.63%
Schroders (SDR) 484.70p -3.10%
Hiscox Limited (DI) (HSX) 1,110.50p -2.16%
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 4,025.00p -2.07%
Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 819.20p -2.06%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 440.40p -2.02%
Persimmon (PSN) 1,253.50p -1.88%

FTSE 250 - Risers

National Express Group (NEX) 140.10p 12.98%
Coats Group (COA) 79.10p 8.21%
Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 2,739.00p 4.58%
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 216.00p 4.05%
Vesuvius (VSVS) 437.60p 3.45%
Ascential (ASCL) 275.80p 2.91%
Baltic Classifieds Group (BCG) 169.80p 2.91%
ASOS (ASC) 879.00p 2.81%
Shaftesbury (SHB) 411.80p 2.39%
Telecom Plus (TEP) 1,924.00p 2.34%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Spire Healthcare Group (SPI) 227.00p -5.02%
ITV (ITV) 85.56p -3.30%
Ashmore Group (ASHM) 259.80p -3.06%
Hunting (HTG) 325.00p -2.69%
Investec (INVP) 518.20p -2.59%
Ninety One (N91) 204.00p -2.58%
Babcock International Group (BAB) 321.40p -2.31%
Serco Group (SRP) 160.40p -2.02%
Virgin Money UK (VMUK) 174.55p -1.99%
Rathbones Group (RAT) 2,070.00p -1.90%