London midday: Stocks fluctuate as oil prices rebound, China introduces new measures

The FTSE fluctuated between highs and lows on Monday as oil prices picked up and China’s central bank introduced measures to stem capital outflows.

Oil prices recovered from lows earlier in the session as supply glut fears grew after sanctions on Iran were lifted. At 1133 GMT, Brent crude rose 0.10% to $28.97 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate increased 0.1% to $29.45 per barrel.

Meanwhile, the People’s Bank of China said on Monday it will start implementing a reserve requirement ratio (RRR) on offshore banks' domestic deposits to restrict speculation on further depreciation of the yuan. Following the announcement the spot yuan strengthened 0.06% against the dollar.

Global financial markets have been volatile in recent weeks after the PBoC allowed the yuan to fall sharply before moving aggressively to try to steady the currency.

The central bank is reportedly planning to raise the RRR next week for yuan deposits placed in yuan clearing banks to the normal level.

In UK news, a report from Rightmove showed house prices rose 6.5% in January compared to a year ago. However, between December 2015 and January 2016 asking prices increase just 0.5%. Shares in housebuilders Taylor Wimpey, Barratt Developments and Berkeley Group slumped following the report.

Among other corporate stocks, Home Retail rallied after agreeing to sell Homebase to Wesfarmers.

Amec Foster Wheeler advanced as it announced chief executive Samir Brikho is stepping down from his role, the oil and gas engineer and that trading in 2015 was in line with expectations.

Shire edged higher after Exane BNP Paribas upgraded the stock to ‘outperform’ from ‘neutral’ and reiterated its 5,700p price target following the company’s agreed merger with Baxalta.

Oil producers rebounded including BP, Royal Dutch Shell and Wood Group, on the turnaround in crude prices.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 5,799.68 -0.08%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 16,007.18 -0.95%
techMARK (TASX) 3,061.40 -0.39%

FTSE 100 - Risers

BP (BP.) 344.45p 1.86%
Glencore (GLEN) 74.78p 1.74%
Shire Plc (SHP) 4,251.00p 1.72%
Anglo American (AAL) 236.65p 1.68%
Royal Dutch Shell 'A' (RDSA) 1,367.50p 1.22%
Mondi (MNDI) 1,200.00p 1.18%
ARM Holdings (ARM) 943.50p 1.13%
Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 1,366.00p 1.07%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 1,661.00p 1.06%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 621.00p 0.98%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Sports Direct International (SPD) 395.90p -3.30%
Provident Financial (PFG) 2,900.00p -2.39%
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 3,429.00p -2.31%
DCC (DCC) 5,025.00p -2.24%
Pearson (PSON) 693.50p -2.12%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 180.40p -1.90%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 568.00p -1.82%
Kingfisher (KGF) 328.20p -1.80%
Tesco (TSCO) 161.50p -1.79%
Barclays (BARC) 188.55p -1.69%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Amec Foster Wheeler (AMFW) 404.10p 4.07%
CLS Holdings (CLI) 1,718.00p 3.43%
Wood Group (John) (WG.) 587.50p 2.44%
Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 716.00p 2.29%
Moneysupermarket.com Group (MONY) 317.80p 1.31%
Rathbone Brothers (RAT) 2,152.00p 1.27%
JPMorgan American Inv Trust (JAM) 259.70p 1.17%
Templeton Emerging Markets Inv Trust (TEM) 379.90p 1.04%
Daejan Holdings (DJAN) 6,160.00p 0.98%
Big Yellow Group (BYG) 729.00p 0.97%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Vedanta Resources (VED) 210.50p -6.57%
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 1,067.00p -5.83%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 240.60p -5.50%
Allied Minds (ALM) 315.00p -4.49%
International Personal Finance (IPF) 243.10p -4.48%
Crest Nicholson Holdings (CRST) 501.00p -4.21%
Bovis Homes Group (BVS) 876.50p -4.16%
Countrywide (CWD) 339.10p -3.86%
Acacia Mining (ACA) 161.70p -3.75%
Redrow (RDW) 414.80p -3.69%