London midday: Stocks drift ahead of Trump's 'big announcement' on tax

London stocks were drifting sideways by midday as investors sifted through corporate news and held off from making any big bets either way ahead of US President Donald Trump's announcement on tax reform.

The FTSE 100 was down 0.1% to 7,268.55, while the pound was off 0.1% versus the dollar at 1.2818.

The White House has mooted a variety of tax cuts, most eye-catching being the slashing of the corporate income tax rate from 35% to 15%, though if the news fails to explain how the reforms would not exacerbate budget issues is likely to be taken badly.

"To satisfy the markets, which are broadly at or near all-time highs, the announcement will have to be heavy on detail, avoiding the bombastically vague promises that have tended to typify the White House’s recent communications," said Spreadex analyst Connor Campbell.

"Investors will also be looking for the possible roadblocks that Trump could face in trying to pass his proposals, especially following his healthcare humiliation a couple of months ago."

In corporate news, emerging markets-focused bank Standard Chartered rose after reporting a near doubling of its first-quarter profits as revenue increased and loan impairment declined.

London Stock Exchange Group was on the front foot after saying it made a strong start to the year, with sales growth across the group apart from capital markets was hit by lower trading levels than last year.

Croda International rallied as it reported a 19% rise in first-quarter sales and kept its outlook for 2017 unchanged.

Jupiter Fund Management racked up solid gains after the asset manager reported a rise in first-quarter inflows and assets under management as it diversification strategy bore fruit.

Building materials group CRH turned higher as it said it had a "satisfactory" start to the year, with a 4% increase in first-quarter sales as European growth offset a flat US performance.

Engineer GKN retreated after saying it had a good first quarter with organic sales growth, but warning that its growth rate may not be sustained for the full year due to tough comparators.

Metro Bank pared earlier losses to trade flat after reporting record deposit growth and a rise in lending for the first quarter.

Antofagasta was just a touch lower after the Chilean miner reasserted its guidance for 2017 as it posted a 9.4% jump in first-quarter copper production.

Fresnillo was also on the back foot after a production report, but BHP Billiton gained ground.

Tullow Oil gushed lower after backing its oil production guidance.

Retailer Next fell after being cut to 'underperform' at Jefferies, while Severn Trent was in the red after HSBC downgraded the stock 'reduce'.

Savills was weaker following a downgrade by Peel Hunt, but Bellway edged higher after an upgrade to 'buy' by the same outfit.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,268.55 -0.10%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,622.57 0.21%
techMARK (TASX) 3,479.53 0.08%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Croda International (CRDA) 3,833.00p 4.76%
Merlin Entertainments (MERL) 504.00p 3.79%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 753.00p 3.42%
Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 236.30p 1.29%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 820.00p 0.92%
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 4,021.00p 0.90%
Wolseley (WOS) 4,946.00p 0.86%
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 1,921.00p 0.84%
3i Group (III) 800.50p 0.82%
Bunzl (BNZL) 2,392.00p 0.80%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Anglo American (AAL) 1,104.50p -1.65%
GKN (GKN) 360.60p -1.50%
Glencore (GLEN) 307.65p -1.46%
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 250.10p -1.30%
Next (NXT) 4,227.00p -1.05%
Standard Life (SL.) 365.30p -0.98%
Barclays (BARC) 220.75p -0.92%
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,584.50p -0.91%
BT Group (BT.A) 310.85p -0.83%
ITV (ITV) 217.80p -0.82%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Restaurant Group (RTN) 363.40p 3.41%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 159.10p 3.04%
Renishaw (RSW) 3,241.00p 2.89%
Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 1,109.00p 2.12%
Aggreko (AGK) 874.00p 2.10%
Hunting (HTG) 585.00p 1.92%
IP Group (IPO) 139.60p 1.90%
Greencore Group (GNC) 232.10p 1.89%
Berendsen (BRSN) 812.00p 1.88%
Jupiter Fund Management (JUP) 472.80p 1.72%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Allied Minds (ALM) 160.10p -2.97%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 253.10p -2.69%
Ibstock (IBST) 220.00p -2.61%
Kennedy Wilson Europe Real Estate (KWE) 1,067.00p -1.66%
Hastings Group Holdings (HSTG) 293.40p -1.41%
Savills (SVS) 916.50p -1.19%
Dunelm Group (DNLM) 596.50p -1.16%
Spire Healthcare Group (SPI) 326.30p -1.12%
Great Portland Estates (GPOR) 686.00p -1.08%
Hiscox Limited (DI) (HSX) 1,125.00p -0.97%