London midday: Stocks fall ahead of Fed rate announcement

London stocks had fallen further into the red by midday on Wednesday as investors eyed the latest policy announcement from the US Federal Reserve.

The FTSE 100 was down 0.6% at 7,518.64. At the same time, oil prices rose after the EU said it would phase out Russian oil by the end of the year.

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said a half percentage point rate rise from the Fed was widely expected.

"Given the quantum of the raise is almost an open secret at this stage, all the attention will focus on any guidance around the pace of future increases and whether the recent surprise dip in US GDP has any impact on the Fed’s thinking," he said.

In equity markets, B&Q Owner Kingfisher was the worst performer on the FTSE 100 following a Sky News report that it and Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons have formed a new coalition to petition the government for a permanent business rates cut funded by the introduction of a new online tax.

Direct Line slid after the insurance company reported lower gross premiums for the first quarter as new rules on pricing practices impacted results. Admiral also slumped

Wetherspoons was in the red as the pub chain posted a dip in third-quarter sales and warned over rising costs but said it expects to break even this year as sales improve slowly.

Outside the FTSE 350, retailers Joules and Boohoo were sharply lower after disappointing updates.

On the upside, Flutter Entertainment rallied as it said group revenues grew in the three months ended 31 March as the number of average monthly players rose by 15%.

Aston Martin Lagonda also gained after it reported a rise in adjusted core earnings amid strong retail demand and announced the appointment of former Ferrari boss Amedeo Felisa as chief executive.

Elsewhere, Johnson Matthey was boosted by an upgrade to ‘buy’ from ‘hold’ at Jefferies.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,518.64 -0.56%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,249.91 -1.32%
techMARK (TASX) 4,388.60 -0.20%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Flutter Entertainment (CDI) (FLTR) 8,854.00p 6.80%
Entain (ENT) 1,530.00p 2.51%
Aveva Group (AVV) 2,202.00p 1.76%
HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 519.70p 1.35%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 573.00p 1.24%
BAE Systems (BA.) 775.40p 1.15%
Airtel Africa (AAF) 147.50p 1.03%
Shell (SHEL) 2,232.50p 0.74%
WPP (WPP) 1,021.50p 0.69%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,533.00p 0.69%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Kingfisher (KGF) 239.00p -6.02%
London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) 7,468.00p -4.16%
Admiral Group (ADM) 2,455.00p -4.14%
SEGRO (SGRO) 1,157.50p -3.86%
Associated British Foods (ABF) 1,541.00p -3.69%
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 130.15p -3.49%
Howden Joinery Group (HWDN) 699.80p -3.42%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 889.00p -3.31%
St James's Place (STJ) 1,260.00p -3.23%
Intermediate Capital Group (ICP) 1,486.50p -2.43%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 940.40p 11.21%
Auction Technology Group (ATG) 975.00p 2.74%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 56.85p 2.71%
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 2,273.00p 2.16%
NB Private Equity Partners Ltd. (NBPE) 1,540.00p 1.32%
Diversified Energy Company (DEC) 125.30p 1.13%
Discoverie Group (DSCV) 722.00p 0.98%
Chemring Group (CHG) 363.00p 0.97%
TI Fluid Systems (TIFS) 165.00p 0.86%
Darktrace (DARK) 426.00p 0.80%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Direct Line Insurance Group (DLG) 236.70p -7.36%
LondonMetric Property (LMP) 242.80p -4.71%
Frasers Group (FRAS) 656.00p -4.37%
Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 3,077.00p -4.32%
Currys (CURY) 89.90p -4.31%
Molten Ventures (GROW) 647.50p -4.22%
Unite Group (UTG) 1,058.00p -4.17%
easyJet (EZJ) 528.60p -4.10%
TP Icap Group (TCAP) 128.00p -3.98%
Baltic Classifieds Group (BCG) 123.20p -3.90%