London midday: Stocks edge higher amid dearth of data

Stocks were trading slightly higher come midday despite downbeat forecasts for the UK economy out of consultancy EY, thanks to increased speculation of a downshift in the speed of rate hikes in the US.

It was also against the backdrop of the latter that analysts in the City were mulling the outlook for shares on either side of the Pond.

"While there may be some logic in the argument that we may have seen the peaks in US markets, given how they have performed in the last few months, there is less of an argument when you look at markets in Europe, which look set to open higher later this morning," said Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets UK.

"Valuations in Europe are lower to begin with, and on an income/dividend basis much more compelling, compared to the US, with the FTSE100 and DAX both trading on forward dividend yields of 3.77% and 3.36% respectively."

As at 1151, the FTSE 100 was trading up by 0.27% at 7,791.87 while Sterling had gone into reverse and was giving back 0.35% to 1.253.

The US dollar index was coming off its session lows, having retested the prior week's lows at 101.59.

Last Friday, Federal Reserve Governor, Christopher Waller, joined the ranks of top officials arguing for a downshift in the pace of rate hikes to 25 basis points per meeting.

Euro/dollar hit a high of 1.0927 in Asian trading, helped by hawkish remarks from European Central Bank governing council member Klaas Knot.

At the weekend, Knot said the monetary authority should raise rates by 50bp at its next two meetings and that the time for a slower pace of hikes was "still far away".

EY's updated forecasts, published on Monday, were for a drop in UK gross domestic product of 0.7% in 2023, down from the 0.3% contraction it predicted in October, the Guardian reported.

Projections for 2024 and 2025 were revised lower as well, from 2.4% and 2.3% to 1.9% and 2.2%, respectively.

Most bourses in Asia remained closed overnight, in observance of the Lunar New Year holiday, although those that remained open generally performed well.

On Saturday, China's Center for Disease Control and Prevention said that the present wave of Covid-19 had already infected roughly four-fifths of the country's population, according to a Reuters report.

Richard Hunter, Head of Markets at Interactive Investor also noted early reports that travel demand in China during the new year had beaten expectations which "could augur well as a sign of recovery in both economic activity and consumption".

At 1500 GMT, the US Conference Board would publish its index of leading economic indicators for the month of December. In parallel, Eurostat was to publish its preliminary reading for consumer confidence in the single currency bloc for the month of January.

The data would be followed at 1745 GMT by a speech from European Central Bank chief, Christine Lagarde, at Deutsche Boerse's annual reception.

The week's key economic releases would come on Thursday and Friday, in the form of the latest inflation data out of the US. Investors were also awaiting quarterly earnings from roughly one quarter of the S&P 500's components.

Saga studies asset sales, National Express and Balfour Beatty clinch contracts

Saga, the specialist provider of products and services to those over 50 confirmed that it was in talks to potentially sell Acromas Insurance Company Limited with a view to reducing its debt pile. Its board has "concluded that a potential disposal of its Underwriting business is consistent with Group strategy and would crystalise value and enhance long-term returns for shareholders."

National Express Group said Its German business had won a €1bn contract to operate the RE1 and RE11 Rhein-Ruhr-Express (RRX) train lines to 2033. The company took over the operation of the two lines in February 2022 through an emergency contract award. National Express now operates all three asset light RRX lots under long term contracts, the company said on Monday.

Infrastructure group Balfour Beatty said it had been awarded a £1.2bn contract by Britain’s National Highways to deliver a package of works for the proposed Lower Thames Crossing. The company said it would be responsible for the design and delivery of more than 10 miles of new highway as part of the project to build a new tunnel under the River Thames aimed at easing traffic congestion in the south of England.

Shares of ABF were boosted by an upgrade out of Deutsche Bank to 'buy'. The investment bank said that the headwinds from energy costs and foreign exchange rates were reversing. It also noted the company's "robust" balance sheet and share buybacks.

Primary Health Properties bought Irish property management business Axis Technical Services and signed a long-term agreement providing access to a strong pipeline of future primary care projects in Ireland, the company said on Monday. Axis manages a portfolio of more than 30 properties, including the majority of PHP's Irish portfolio, it added. No financial details were disclosed.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,792.47 0.28%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,765.11 0.32%
techMARK (TASX) 4,451.49 -0.11%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Ocado Group (OCDO) 726.20p 2.60%
Halma (HLMA) 2,143.00p 1.81%
Endeavour Mining (EDV) 2,012.00p 1.62%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,756.00p 1.50%
Smith (DS) (SMDS) 351.20p 1.41%
Smurfit Kappa Group (CDI) (SKG) 3,470.00p 1.25%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 6,290.00p 1.24%
Associated British Foods (ABF) 1,848.50p 1.20%
Anglo American (AAL) 3,608.50p 1.19%
Diageo (DGE) 3,720.50p 1.11%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

St James's Place (STJ) 1,204.00p -2.51%
Fresnillo (FRES) 896.60p -2.16%
Informa (INF) 655.20p -1.44%
Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 854.00p -1.18%
Croda International (CRDA) 6,962.00p -1.16%
SEGRO (SGRO) 801.60p -1.16%
Hiscox Limited (DI) (HSX) 1,111.50p -1.07%
SSE (SSE) 1,733.00p -1.00%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 11,096.00p -0.93%
London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) 7,426.00p -0.85%

FTSE 250 - Risers

International Distributions Services (IDS) 229.70p 3.80%
Harbour Energy (HBR) 322.60p 3.46%
Greencoat UK Wind (UKW) 158.70p 3.39%
Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 2,841.00p 2.86%
Close Brothers Group (CBG) 960.00p 2.40%
Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust (ASL) 1,358.00p 2.26%
Fidelity China Special Situations (FCSS) 295.00p 2.08%
Investec (INVP) 523.20p 2.03%
Coats Group (COA) 70.70p 2.02%
Just Group (JUST) 85.05p 1.98%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

ASOS (ASC) 756.00p -2.83%
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 163.30p -2.74%
Chemring Group (CHG) 276.00p -2.47%
BH Macro Ltd. GBP Shares (BHMG) 4,385.00p -2.12%
Drax Group (DRX) 661.50p -1.93%
Pagegroup (PAGE) 450.60p -1.87%
Bank of Georgia Group (BGEO) 2,645.00p -1.86%
Clarkson (CKN) 3,105.00p -1.58%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 171.10p -1.55%
NCC Group (NCC) 186.40p -1.48%