London midday: Stocks maintain gains ahead of Fed announcement

London stocks were still firmly in the black by midday on Wednesday as investors eyed the latest policy announcement from the US Federal Reserve.

The FTSE 100 was up 1.4% at 7,274.36.

Sentiment got a boost after China’s government pledged support to keep financial markets stable and amid signs of progress in Russia-Ukraine peace talks. Ukrainian president Zelensky confirmed in a late-night address on Tuesday that meetings between officials from both sides were ongoing, adding that "the positions at negotiations are more realistic now".

Victoria Scholar, head of investment at Interactive Investor, said: "Optimistic comments from President Zelensky who said peace talks are starting to ‘sound more realistic’ while conceding the Ukraine will not join Nato have helped to lift risk sentiment across equity markets with sharply positive momentum across Asia carrying forward into the European equity session.

"Travel & leisure, autos and financials are leading the gains in Europe with all major bourses in the green."

Investors were also looking ahead to the latest policy announcement from the US Federal Reserve.

Scholar said: "The Fed faces a complex equation when it lays out its latest economic projections today, attempting to quantify the impact of tensions between Russia and Ukraine, the energy price shock and a possible slowdown in China on US unemployment, inflation, and growth. On top of that the Fed is walking a tightrope as it looks to temper some price pressures in the US economy without derailing an already fragile economic trajectory.

"Expectations are for around five quarter-percentage-point rate increases by year-end, taking the range to between 1.25 and 1.5%, although the market is pricing in a more hawkish and aggressive rate hiking path ahead."

In UK equity markets, Anglo-Russian precious metals miner Polymetal was the top performer on the FTSE 100.

Asia-focused Prudential and Standard Chartered were also among the gainers following heavy losses in the previous session on the back of worries about the impact of Covid lockdowns in China and possible sanctions from the US.

Computacenter as it hiked its full-year dividend and said it had delivered double-digit revenue and profit growth in 2021.

Software and cloud services specialist Bytes Technology advanced after it hailed "another upbeat year" and said results were ahead of expectations.

On the downside, cybersecurity software firm Avast tumbled after the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority said its acquisition by US rival NortonLifeLock raises competition concerns and the deal could be referred for an in-depth probe if the concerns are not addressed.

Gold miner Centamin lost its shine as its full-year profits fell short of expectations.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,274.36 1.37%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,771.83 2.54%
techMARK (TASX) 4,279.37 1.44%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Polymetal International (POLY) 140.00p 7.86%
Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 942.60p 7.26%
Prudential (PRU) 1,060.50p 6.05%
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 5,242.00p 5.45%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,676.50p 5.34%
Whitbread (WTB) 2,814.00p 5.08%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 495.20p 5.03%
Intermediate Capital Group (ICP) 1,671.50p 4.86%
British Land Company (BLND) 526.00p 4.61%
Mondi (MNDI) 1,492.50p 4.59%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Avast (AVST) 570.80p -11.56%
Pearson (PSON) 808.40p -2.23%
BAE Systems (BA.) 717.80p -1.99%
Shell (SHEL) 1,908.50p -1.62%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 3,054.00p -1.05%
Imperial Brands (IMB) 1,546.00p -0.77%
BP (BP.) 358.50p -0.69%
Fresnillo (FRES) 697.60p -0.43%
National Grid (NG.) 1,151.00p -0.38%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 1,081.00p -0.23%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Fidelity China Special Situations (FCSS) 244.00p 11.67%
Bytes Technology Group (BYIT) 466.80p 10.46%
Trustpilot Group (TRST) 156.70p 9.73%
Baltic Classifieds Group (BCG) 139.00p 8.59%
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 917.40p 7.90%
Watches of Switzerland Group (WOSG) 1,118.00p 7.71%
CLS Holdings (CLI) 207.50p 7.62%
Hammerson (HMSO) 33.60p 7.35%
Close Brothers Group (CBG) 1,154.00p 7.15%
Allianz Technology Trust (ATT) 265.50p 7.06%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Centamin (DI) (CEY) 92.90p -5.36%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 122.10p -2.55%
Chemring Group (CHG) 329.50p -2.37%
Endeavour Mining (EDV) 1,865.00p -2.36%
IG Group Holdings (IGG) 767.00p -2.04%
Drax Group (DRX) 687.50p -2.00%
Energean (ENOG) 983.50p -1.75%
Contour Global (GLO) 185.40p -1.17%
Vivo Energy (VVO) 137.20p -0.87%
BBGI Global Infrastructure S.A. NPV (DI) (BBGI) 172.20p -0.58%