London midday: Stocks maintain gains as investors mull China data

London stocks were still in the black by midday on Monday as investors mulled the latest trade data out of China.

The FTSE 100 was up 0.5% at 7,477.90.

AJ Bell financial analyst Danni Hewson said: "The summer is supposed to be a quiet time for markets as many people are sitting on the beach, rather than glued to a screen trading stocks and shares. So far, this summer is proving to be a decent session, and one that will provide a nice surprise when people get back to their desks after a bit of sun, sand and sea."

Sentiment got a boost after China reported a record trade surplus for July thanks to strong export growth.

Exports grew 18% year-on-year in the month, coming in comfortable ahead of analysts’ expectations for a 14% jump. Imports rose 2.3% year-over-year in July, however, missing expectations of 4% growth.

Despite the positive tone, analysts struck a cautious note about the Chinese data.

"Exports held up well last month, thanks to a backlog of orders still being cleared. But it won’t be long before shipments drop back on cooling foreign demand,” said Julian Evans-Pritchard, senior China economist at Capital Economics. "Meanwhile, imports continued to trend down, pointing to further domestic weakness."

On Friday, a stronger-than-expected US non-farm payrolls report weighed on markets as it reignited concerns about more aggressive tightening from the Federal Reserve.

In equity markets, investment platform Hargreaves Lansdown surged to the top of the FTSE 100 after price target increases at both Deutsche Bank and Barclays.

Recruiter PageGroup slumped as it posted a rise in first-half pre-tax profit and revenue, but also struck a note of caution over its outlook.

Shipping services company Clarkson was in the red even as it reported a jump in interim profit, driven by its broking division. Pre-tax profit rose to £42m from £27.3m.

Outside the FTSE 350, Joules surged after confirming it is in talks with Next about the potential acquisition of a £15m minority stake in the lifestyle brand.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,477.90 0.51%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,094.47 0.21%
techMARK (TASX) 4,381.87 0.52%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 955.60p 7.88%
Howden Joinery Group (HWDN) 674.80p 2.24%
Spirax-Sarco Engineering (SPX) 11,665.00p 2.06%
Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 1,949.00p 2.04%
Experian (EXPN) 2,900.00p 1.90%
Smith (DS) (SMDS) 286.40p 1.81%
Aveva Group (AVV) 2,373.00p 1.80%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,191.50p 1.79%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 125.30p 1.75%
Croda International (CRDA) 7,208.00p 1.72%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

RS Group (RS1) 1,042.00p -2.07%
Harbour Energy (HBR) 356.80p -1.41%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 869.60p -1.25%
Avast (AVST) 681.80p -0.93%
Phoenix Group Holdings (PHNX) 664.40p -0.84%
WPP (WPP) 808.40p -0.76%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 10,790.00p -0.70%
M&G (MNG) 216.20p -0.69%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 605.20p -0.46%
B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 416.00p -0.43%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Workspace Group (WKP) 581.50p 2.65%
Synthomer (SYNT) 193.00p 2.55%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 82.00p 2.44%
ICG Enterprise Trust (ICGT) 1,118.00p 2.38%
Weir Group (WEIR) 1,673.00p 2.29%
Convatec Group (CTEC) 246.00p 2.24%
LondonMetric Property (LMP) 242.80p 2.19%
Safestore Holdings (SAFE) 1,107.00p 2.12%
Man Group (EMG) 244.40p 2.09%
Assura (AGR) 68.95p 2.00%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Pagegroup (PAGE) 412.80p -8.59%
Future (FUTR) 1,770.00p -5.09%
Clarkson (CKN) 3,420.00p -3.80%
Auction Technology Group (ATG) 951.00p -3.74%
Hays (HAS) 122.80p -3.31%
Darktrace (DARK) 375.50p -3.12%
Wood Group (John) (WG.) 151.20p -2.98%
ASOS (ASC) 1,024.00p -2.94%
TBC Bank Group (TBCG) 1,482.00p -2.76%
NB Private Equity Partners Ltd. (NBPE) 1,595.00p -2.45%