London midday: Stocks fall as investors weigh Chinese CPI

London stocks were slightly lower on Monday amid a lack of economic data to drive the market.

The only notable releases on the day’s agenda include Chinese inflation and producer prices.

China’s consumer price index rose 2.3% year-on-year in March, falling shy of forecasts for 2.4% growth and remaining in line with the previous month.

The producer price index fell 4.3% in March from a year ago, compared to analysts’ estimates for a 4.6% decline and a 4.9% drop in February.

“Looking ahead, we expect consumer price inflation to remain near current levels for the rest of this year,” said Julian Evans-Pritchard, China economist at Capital Economics.

“Admittedly, the fall in oil prices during the second half of 2015 will boost energy inflation later in the year and looser monetary and fiscal policy should also support broader price pressures. That said, the recent rise in pig numbers suggests that pork price inflation should begin to ease before long, which will help keep a lid on inflation.”

Meanwhile, oil prices fell ahead of a 17 April meeting between global producers to decide on whether to freeze output. At 1120 BST, Brent crude fell 0.28% to $41.82 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate dropped 0.48% to $39.53 per barrel.

On the corporate front, mining stocks rallied, including Anglo American, Glencore, Centrica, Fresnillo and Rio Tinto, as precious metal prices gained.

Housebuilders led the falls on the FTSE 100 as invested cited concerns about UK economic growth and a slowdown in London’s prime property market. Berkeley Group, Taylor Wimpey and Persimmon were in the red.

Direct Line Insurance slumped after Barclays downgraded the stock to ‘equalweight’ from ‘overweight’ and cut the price target to 369p from 443p.

Food producer Cranswick advanced as it announced the acquisition of CCL Holdings, and its 100% owned subsidiary Crown Chicken Limited from the Thacker family and management on Monday.

Tesco edged higher following reports its was preparing plans to sell its loss-making divisions on Monday, with chief executive Dave Lewis appointing an adviser to assist with a sale of garden centre chain Dobbies.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 6,201.51 -0.05%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 16,801.12 -0.17%
techMARK (TASX) 3,152.13 -0.37%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Anglo American (AAL) 568.60p 3.91%
Glencore (GLEN) 139.55p 2.01%
Barclays (BARC) 153.25p 1.69%
Tesco (TSCO) 193.70p 1.65%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 2,018.00p 1.53%
Fresnillo (FRES) 944.50p 1.23%
Centrica (CNA) 235.00p 1.16%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 768.90p 1.10%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 533.00p 1.04%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 291.50p 1.04%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 3,034.00p -2.88%
Persimmon (PSN) 2,022.00p -2.03%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 182.50p -1.99%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 536.50p -1.92%
Direct Line Insurance Group (DLG) 354.20p -1.80%
TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 1,028.00p -1.53%
ARM Holdings (ARM) 1,032.00p -1.34%
Intertek Group (ITRK) 3,188.00p -1.30%
Paddy Power Betfair (PPB) 9,465.00p -1.25%
Next (NXT) 5,455.00p -1.18%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Evraz (EVR) 99.00p 6.34%
Cranswick (CWK) 2,313.00p 6.05%
Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 153.00p 6.03%
Zoopla Property Group (WI) (ZPLA) 248.70p 3.28%
Polymetal International (POLY) 712.00p 3.04%
Drax Group (DRX) 296.30p 2.99%
Amec Foster Wheeler (AMFW) 447.80p 2.94%
Vesuvius (VSVS) 297.20p 2.73%
SEGRO (SGRO) 432.40p 2.59%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 360.00p 2.42%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Galliford Try (GFRD) 1,314.00p -6.14%
IP Group (IPO) 159.90p -3.09%
Aggreko (AGK) 1,016.00p -2.68%
Grainger (GRI) 223.10p -2.36%
Rightmove (RMV) 4,055.00p -2.34%
Dechra Pharmaceuticals (DPH) 1,198.00p -2.20%
Restaurant Group (RTN) 358.30p -2.10%
Phoenix Group Holdings (DI) (PHNX) 885.00p -2.10%
Crest Nicholson Holdings (CRST) 527.00p -2.04%
Bellway (BWY) 2,503.00p -2.04%