London midday: Stocks flat as election looms; Convatec slumps

London stocks were little changed by midday as the pound ticked up, with just two days to go until the general election.

The FTSE 100 was flat at 7,524.67, while the pound was holding its own, trading up 0.1% against the euro and the dollar at 1.1470 and 1.2906, respectively, even as the latest polls revealed that the Tory lead over Labour was narrowing.

A poll by Survation for ITV out overnight showed the Tories just one point ahead of Labour versus a six-point lead a week ago, while a YouGov constituency model published on Tuesday calculated that the Conservatives would win a 42% share of the vote and 304 seats in the election, which was likely to be 22 seats short of a majority, up from 21 seats on the previous day's poll.

IG analyst Joshua Mahony said: "UK election polls have been widely conflicting of late, reflecting the significant impact different methodology has upon results. Previously we have seen the pound fall with any mention of a hung parliament, yet with the pound rising gradually over recent weeks, it is clear that the markets continue to foresee a Tory majority."

It's not just the UK election due on Thursday. Former FBI boss James Comey is scheduled to testify before the Senate panel about Russian interference in the presidential election, while a European Central Bank meeting is also taking place.

In corporate news, online electrical goods retailer AO World slumped as group operating losses for the year widened to £12m from £10.6m the year before and the company warned that first-quarter growth would slow significantly year on year.

Luxury fashion retailer Burberry took a hit as HSBC downgraded its stance on the stock to 'reduce' from 'hold'.

Challenger bank Shawbrook slipped as it rejected a third and final buyout offer from private equity groups Pollen Street Capital and BC Partners, saying it continued to undervalue the group.

Temporary power provider Aggreko nudged lower as it announced that Carole Cran was stepping down from the role of chief financial officer, while budget carrier Ryanair retreated after it reported an 11% jump in traffic in May as the load factor nudged higher.

Convatec was under the cosh after Nordic Capital and Avista Capital Holdings sold £805m of shares in the company, while Countryside Properties fell after two divisional chiefs sold just over 11m shares in the company.

Going the other way, Fresnillo and Randgold Resources were among the top performers as gold prices advanced, while easyJet flew higher as it said passenger numbers rose 9.5% to 7.51m and the load factor was unchanged at 91.5%.

Earlier in the day, the latest figures from the British Retail Consortium and KPMG showed UK retail sales fell slightly in May, as a six-year low in non-food sales offset a strong month for supermarkets.

Sales increased by 0.4% on a like-for-like basis compared to the May last year, while total sales, which includes the effect of new shop openings, rose 0.2%, which was the lowest since January, excluding Easter distortions.

Non-food retailers endured their worst three months since May 2011, while sales decreased 0.3% on a like-for-like basis and were up 0.1% on a total basis.

On the upside, food sales were up 3.2% on a like-for-like basis and 4.3% on a total basis over the three months to May, which was the strongest since February 2012.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,524.67 -0.01%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,637.63 -1.16%
techMARK (TASX) 3,629.26 -0.57%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 7,610.00p 1.47%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 8,070.00p 1.04%
easyJet (EZJ) 1,357.00p 0.97%
HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 687.50p 0.90%
SSE (SSE) 1,493.00p 0.88%
Severn Trent (SVT) 2,505.00p 0.85%
Associated British Foods (ABF) 3,013.00p 0.84%
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,635.00p 0.80%
British Land Company (BLND) 631.50p 0.72%
Unilever (ULVR) 4,383.00p 0.67%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Convatec Group (CTEC) 327.00p -4.94%
Merlin Entertainments (MERL) 510.00p -2.67%
Old Mutual (OML) 196.50p -2.48%
Kingfisher (KGF) 318.70p -2.42%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,769.00p -2.27%
Worldpay Group (WPG) 304.90p -1.99%
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 3,068.00p -1.95%
GKN (GKN) 348.10p -1.89%
Glencore (GLEN) 278.55p -1.71%
Paddy Power Betfair (PPB) 8,445.00p -1.52%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Clarkson (CKN) 2,592.00p 3.64%
Acacia Mining (ACA) 290.70p 1.71%
Essentra (ESNT) 579.00p 0.96%
Redefine International (RDI) 38.97p 0.91%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 579.50p 0.78%
UK Commercial Property Trust (UKCM) 90.35p 0.72%
Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 2,319.00p 0.52%
Cineworld Group (CINE) 697.00p 0.29%
Weir Group (WEIR) 1,821.00p 0.28%
Pennon Group (PNN) 910.00p 0.22%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

AO World (AO.) 135.60p -6.48%
Sophos Group (SOPH) 426.40p -5.03%
Ted Baker (TED) 2,334.00p -3.75%
HarbourVest Global Private Equity Limited A Shs (HVPE) 1,256.00p -3.68%
Hunting (HTG) 482.00p -3.60%
RPC Group (RPC) 845.00p -3.21%
Morgan Advanced Materials (MGAM) 284.70p -3.16%
BBA Aviation (BBA) 307.20p -3.15%
Cobham (COB) 133.90p -2.97%
ZPG Plc (ZPG) 363.10p -2.94%