London midday: Stocks edge up ahead of rate decisions

London stocks had edged higher by midday on Monday as investors eyed rate decisions this week from the Bank of Japan, the Federal Reserve and the Bank of England.

The FTSE 100 was up 0.3% at 7,747.98.

Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor, said: "The Fed’s two-day policy meeting will begin tomorrow, culminating in its latest interest rate decision on Wednesday. With a virtually zero chance of a rate cut priced in, investors are now moving towards being equally split between whether or not the first reduction might be on the cards for June. This follows economic data from last week which generally lessened the likelihood of an imminent cut, with inflation remaining stubborn in its final leg towards the 2% target, while the economy more broadly continues to show few signs of meaningful weakness.

"The central bank theme this week also extends to the UK, where the Bank of England is expected to hold rates at 5.25% barring a totally unexpected inflation print the day previous on Wednesday. Recent data showing a cooling of wage growth, itself an inflationary pressure, has been accompanied by other readings showing anaemic progress and a shallow technical recession which adds pressure on the Bank to make some moves to revive the economy. Even so, the first cut is not expected to arrive until August, with the generally difficult balancing act providing some support for sterling but also being reflected in a weak showing from the FTSE 250, which remains down by 1% so far this year."

Investors were mulling data showing that house prices jumped in March as confidence in the UK housing market continued to recover.

According to the latest House Price Index from Rightmove, national average asking prices jumped 1.5% in March.

That was an improvement on February’s 0.9% increase, and above the historic average increase in March of 1.0%. It was also the biggest rise for 10 months.

Year-on-year, prices increased 0.8%. They rose 0.1% in February on the same basis.

The average asking price is now £368,118.

Agreed sales, meanwhile, were up 13% year-on-year. Buyer demand was up 8%, led by larger homes and London, which are less sensitive to mortgages rates, Rightmove noted.

Tim Bannister, Rightmove’s director of property science, said: "March is typically a strong month for asking price growth, as both buyer and seller activity levels rise and the spring selling season gets underway.

"However, the stronger-than-usual price growth this March indicates that new sellers are feeling much more confident - with some perhaps being over-optimistic - that there is enough buyer activity and affordability in their local market to achieve a higher price."

However, Bannister also sounded a note of caution. Asking prices, he said, still remained £4,776 below their May 2023 peak, while elevated interest rates were continuing to stretch affordability for many buyers.

Elsewhere, a survey by Make UK and accountancy firm BDO showed that confidence levels among UK manufacturers remain "robust" despite a subdued economic outlook.

In equity markets, Reckitt Benckiser rallied, having tanked late on Friday amid concerns about baby formula compensation. The shares took a tumble after Reuters reported that an Illinois jury had ordered Reckitt unit Mead Johnson to pay $60m to the mother of a premature baby who died of an intestinal disease after being fed the company's Enfamil baby formula.

Centrica was knocked lower by a downgrade to ‘sector perform’ from ‘outperform’ at RBC Capital Markets, but Beazley rallied as the Canadian bank hiked its price target on the shares to 975p from 775p and said it was still its "top pick".

Electricals retailer Currys gained as it lifted guidance and reported stronger-than-expected sales since the busy Christmas period. The shares had fallen sharply on Friday after it said that JD.com was not planning to make an offer for the group.

Chemring surged as the defence contractor said it had received €66.7m (£57m) from the European Union as part of a €513m funding round to enhance ammunition production capacity.

British Land rose after saying it had sold half its stake in London office 1 Triton Square - the former HQ of Facebook owner Meta - to Royal London Asset Management. A new 50:50 joint venture will be formed "to accelerate the delivery of 1 Triton Square into a best in class science and innovation building at Regent's Place," British Land said.

Haleon lost ground as the consumer healthcare company said that Pfizer plans to sell around 630m shares in the company in a public offering. The sale will reduce Pfizer’s stake from 32% to approximately 24%.

Phoenix Group retreated after The Times suggested it will report a one-off provision of £70m in its annual results on Friday to cover the cost of reducing customer charges.

Bytes Technology tumbled despite hailing a "record year" for the group, as it update the market on the circumstances surrounding the resignation of its former chief executive Neil Murphy.

Marshalls tanked as it downgraded its profit and revenue outlook for 2024 and posted a slump in full-year profits and revenue as the landscape products manufacturer was hit by "challenging end markets".

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,747.98 0.27%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,541.85 0.15%
techMARK (TASX) 4,476.76 0.08%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Reckitt Benckiser Group (RKT) 4,630.00p 3.21%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 472.50p 2.94%
Beazley (BEZ) 673.00p 2.44%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 626.20p 1.52%
Persimmon (PSN) 1,306.50p 1.48%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 624.00p 1.36%
easyJet (EZJ) 536.20p 1.25%
BAE Systems (BA.) 1,311.00p 1.24%
Unite Group (UTG) 955.50p 1.16%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 2,367.50p 1.15%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Phoenix Group Holdings (PHNX) 482.30p -4.38%
BT Group (BT.A) 105.15p -3.13%
Vodafone Group (VOD) 68.39p -2.09%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 1,037.00p -2.03%
Severn Trent (SVT) 2,529.00p -1.79%
Centrica (CNA) 130.15p -1.63%
Flutter Entertainment (DI) (FLTR) 16,895.00p -1.29%
Schroders (SDR) 385.40p -1.23%
Haleon (HLN) 318.40p -1.21%
Prudential (PRU) 786.40p -1.21%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 170.10p 6.65%
Chemring Group (CHG) 369.00p 6.34%
Telecom Plus (TEP) 1,574.00p 4.65%
PPHE Hotel Group Ltd (PPH) 1,390.00p 4.12%
Morgan Advanced Materials (MGAM) 288.50p 3.96%
Lancashire Holdings Limited (LRE) 638.50p 3.74%
Future (FUTR) 598.00p 3.64%
Bridgepoint Group (Reg S) (BPT) 268.60p 3.31%
NCC Group (NCC) 129.00p 3.20%
Essentra (ESNT) 176.80p 3.03%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Bytes Technology Group (BYIT) 518.00p -8.64%
Marshalls (MSLH) 266.80p -8.19%
FirstGroup (FGP) 180.60p -3.78%
Hipgnosis Songs Fund Limited NPV (SONG) 59.90p -3.70%
Darktrace (DARK) 466.30p -3.40%
Bakkavor Group (BAKK) 101.00p -2.88%
W.A.G Payment Solutions (WPS) 73.00p -2.67%
VinaCapital Vietnam Opportunity Fund Ltd. (VOF) 456.00p -2.25%
Pennon Group (PNN) 672.00p -2.11%
Syncona Limited NPV (SYNC) 128.00p -1.99%