London midday: Stocks flat but Darktrace surges on broker note
London stocks were still flat by midday on Monday but Darktrace rocketed after last week’s heavy losses.
The FTSE 100 was steady at 7,303.96.
Neil Wilson, chief market analyst at Markets.com, said: "Stocks are largely flat to start the session in Europe after a positive day Friday saw fresh cycle highs. Weak handover from Asia as Chinese import figures indicated weaker domestic demand. US futures are steady after another round of all-time highs on Friday.
"Earnings are better than were expected, jobs growth is picking up and the Fed’s carried off the taper without undue alarm. Pfizer’s antiviral announcement on Friday is a major positive: Dr Scott Gottlieb said the US is ‘close to the end of the pandemic phase’.
"After last week’s round of policy meetings, this week we get a lot of jawboning from the likes of Powell, Bailey and Macklem on equality and diversity. We’ll also be watching the US CPI numbers on Tuesday, and UK growth numbers for the third quarter on Thursday."
In equity markets, cyber security firm Darktrace was the standout gainer on the FTSE 100, recovering from heavy losses in the previous week. The shares got a boost as Berenberg reiterated its ‘buy’ rating and said "any share price capitulation is a result of fear not fact".
Asset manager Abrdn was trading up after saying it is in talks with private equity firm J.C. Flowers & Co. about a potential acquisition of fund platform Interactive Investor.
Wealth manager Investec also gained after lifting its earnings per share guidance for the first half of 2022.
Gambling software developer Playtech rallied after confirming it has received a preliminary takeover approach from shareholder Gopher Investments. Responding to press speculation, the gambling software developer said it is in "early stage and ongoing" discussions with Gopher.
On the downside, JD Sports Fashion fell as it hit back at reports over a meeting between the retailer’s boss Peter Cowgill and Footasylum chief Barry Brown in an industrial estate car park, leading to claims they may have broken UK takeover rules.
Sirius Real Estate slumped after saying it plans to raise £135m in a share placing to help fund the acquisition of commercial property firm BizSpace for around £245m.
In broker note action, TI Fluid Systems was lifted by an upgrade to ‘overweight’ from ‘neutral’ at JPMorgan, while Helios Towers was knocked lower by a downgrade to ‘equalweight’ at Barclays.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,303.96 0.00%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 23,555.75 -0.17%
techMARK (TASX) 4,630.45 -0.48%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Darktrace (DARK) 633.00p 9.61%
Abrdn (ABDN) 263.90p 3.21%
CRH (CDI) (CRH) 3,738.00p 1.74%
Fresnillo (FRES) 915.60p 1.62%
Polymetal International (POLY) 1,385.00p 1.43%
Schroders (SDR) 3,719.00p 1.42%
Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 1,706.20p 1.38%
B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 632.60p 1.31%
Royal Dutch Shell 'A' (RDSA) 1,705.00p 1.28%
Evraz (EVR) 608.60p 1.26%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Informa (INF) 530.00p -3.36%
ITV (ITV) 109.25p -2.46%
Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,337.50p -2.30%
Aveva Group (AVV) 3,477.00p -1.78%
British Land Company (BLND) 508.60p -1.78%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 177.04p -1.73%
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,551.00p -1.59%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 697.20p -1.50%
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 1,105.50p -1.38%
Whitbread (WTB) 3,384.00p -1.23%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Investec (INVP) 349.30p 5.78%
TI Fluid Systems (TIFS) 283.50p 4.42%
Indivior (INDV) 264.00p 3.86%
Syncona Limited NPV (SYNC) 206.50p 3.66%
Petropavlovsk (POG) 22.66p 3.00%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 156.10p 2.90%
Baltic Classifieds Group (BCG) 210.00p 2.44%
Playtech (PTEC) 725.00p 2.40%
Energean (ENOG) 909.00p 2.31%
CMC Markets (CMCX) 274.00p 1.86%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Sirius Real Estate Ltd. (SRE) 133.20p -3.48%
Discoverie Group (DSCV) 1,062.00p -2.75%
Bridgepoint Group (Reg S) (BPT) 531.00p -2.75%
IWG (IWG) 301.70p -2.68%
Moonpig Group (MOON) 330.00p -2.48%
IP Group (IPO) 119.80p -2.44%
Auction Technology Group (ATG) 1,374.00p -2.41%
NCC Group (NCC) 246.00p -2.38%
PZ Cussons (PZC) 207.50p -2.35%
SSP Group (SSPG) 274.00p -2.32%