London midday: Stocks maintain gains; Intertek hit by downgrade

London stocks were still firmly in the black by midday on Friday, on course for a weekly gain.

The FTSE 100 was up 0.8% at 7,614.65.

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: "The FTSE 100 looked set for a positive end to the week, taking its cue from a strong finish to a turbulent trading session on Wall Street overnight.

"Commodities firms and financial stocks, the latter boosted by expectations of faster rate hikes, helped lead the charge higher.

"Investors continue to wrestle with the challenges posed by rising interest rates and surging inflation with the latest data on wages in the UK offering an indication of how entrenched inflationary pressures are.

"The fact the survey from the REC and KPMG showed starting salaries surging at the fastest pace in March since records began in the late 1990s might be cause for celebration for those in receipt of the bumper pay packets.

"However, the risk is even the most generous salaries will see their buying power severely pinched by the rapidly escalating cost of living."

In equity markets, banks Standard Chartered, Barclays, Lloyds and HSBC were all firmer.

Vodafone was trading up following reports it is among the suitors for TalkTalk.

Ukraine-based iron ore pellets exporter Ferrexpo rose after saying pellet production in the first quarter of 2022 of 2.7m tonnes was in line with the same period a year ago and down 11% on the previous quarter.

House broker Liberum said the production figures imply Ferrexpo was operating at 70% capacity during March. It said operations "admirably continue" despite "horrific conditions" in Ukraine. Meanwhile, Peel Hunt said the production update was "surprisingly strong".

Online trading platform CMC Markets rallied as it said full-year net operating income was set to be at the top end of guidance.

On the downside, inspection, product testing and certification group Intertek was under the cosh after HSBC downgraded its recommendation on the shares to ‘hold’ from ‘buy’ and slashed the price target to 5,700p from 6,500p.

Mondi was also weaker after a downgrade to ‘equalweight’ at Morgan Stanley.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,614.65 0.83%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 21,083.51 0.22%
techMARK (TASX) 4,390.87 0.24%

FTSE 100 - Risers

CRH (CDI) (CRH) 3,015.50p 3.61%
Airtel Africa (AAF) 146.60p 3.02%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 509.20p 2.99%
Shell (SHEL) 2,144.00p 2.78%
Barclays (BARC) 144.08p 2.49%
Kingfisher (KGF) 258.70p 2.41%
BP (BP.) 385.25p 2.08%
Royal Mail (RMG) 331.00p 2.07%
Abrdn (ABDN) 207.00p 1.97%
Prudential (PRU) 1,105.50p 1.89%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Intertek Group (ITRK) 5,156.00p -2.97%
Dechra Pharmaceuticals (DPH) 4,156.00p -2.72%
Experian (EXPN) 2,864.00p -1.92%
Severn Trent (SVT) 3,133.00p -1.26%
Spirax-Sarco Engineering (SPX) 12,835.00p -1.23%
Relx plc (REL) 2,419.00p -1.22%
Halma (HLMA) 2,534.00p -1.17%
Tesco (TSCO) 269.70p -1.10%
Croda International (CRDA) 7,898.00p -1.08%
Mondi (MNDI) 1,411.50p -1.02%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Ferrexpo (FXPO) 187.20p 11.63%
CMC Markets (CMCX) 262.50p 8.70%
Darktrace (DARK) 451.20p 6.29%
Countryside Partnerships (CSP) 248.80p 4.54%
Dr. Martens (DOCS) 239.60p 3.54%
Mediclinic International (MDC) 377.60p 3.45%
Hays (HAS) 119.20p 3.03%
Trustpilot Group (TRST) 152.30p 2.97%
Quilter (QLT) 147.00p 2.65%
Investec (INVP) 537.40p 2.64%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

888 Holdings (888) 212.40p -5.26%
International Public Partnerships Ltd. (INPP) 164.00p -3.87%
Abrdn Private Equity Opportunities Trust (APEO) 497.00p -2.93%
NCC Group (NCC) 191.60p -2.84%
Spirent Communications (SPT) 234.40p -2.58%
Kainos Group (KNOS) 1,300.00p -2.26%
Syncona Limited NPV (SYNC) 165.20p -2.25%
Hill & Smith Holdings (HILS) 1,454.00p -2.15%
Watches of Switzerland Group (WOSG) 1,083.00p -1.99%
Petershill Partners (PHLL) 251.50p -1.76%

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,614.42 0.83%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 21,086.52 0.23%
techMARK (TASX) 4,390.63 0.23%

FTSE 100 - Risers

CRH (CDI) (CRH) 3,009.50p 3.40%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 508.60p 2.87%
Airtel Africa (AAF) 146.30p 2.81%
Shell (SHEL) 2,142.00p 2.68%
Barclays (BARC) 144.02p 2.45%
BP (BP.) 385.95p 2.27%
Kingfisher (KGF) 257.80p 2.06%
Whitbread (WTB) 2,837.00p 1.94%
Anglo American (AAL) 4,055.00p 1.94%
Abrdn (ABDN) 206.90p 1.92%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Intertek Group (ITRK) 5,150.00p -3.09%
Dechra Pharmaceuticals (DPH) 4,176.00p -2.25%
Experian (EXPN) 2,865.00p -1.88%
Spirax-Sarco Engineering (SPX) 12,830.00p -1.27%
Relx plc (REL) 2,421.00p -1.14%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 1,216.00p -1.10%
Tesco (TSCO) 270.00p -0.99%
Sage Group (SGE) 721.20p -0.99%
Mondi (MNDI) 1,413.00p -0.91%
Croda International (CRDA) 7,912.00p -0.90%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Ferrexpo (FXPO) 184.10p 9.78%
CMC Markets (CMCX) 262.00p 8.49%
Darktrace (DARK) 448.60p 5.68%
NB Private Equity Partners Ltd. (NBPE) 1,655.00p 3.76%
Countryside Partnerships (CSP) 246.80p 3.70%
Mediclinic International (MDC) 378.20p 3.62%
Dr. Martens (DOCS) 238.60p 3.11%
Paragon Banking Group (PAG) 504.00p 2.77%
Hays (HAS) 118.90p 2.77%
Quilter (QLT) 147.00p 2.65%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

888 Holdings (888) 213.40p -4.82%
International Public Partnerships Ltd. (INPP) 164.00p -3.87%
NCC Group (NCC) 191.00p -3.14%
Spirent Communications (SPT) 234.80p -2.41%
Hill & Smith Holdings (HILS) 1,454.00p -2.15%
Kainos Group (KNOS) 1,302.00p -2.11%
PureTech Health (PRTC) 198.80p -1.83%
Watches of Switzerland Group (WOSG) 1,085.00p -1.81%
Discoverie Group (DSCV) 771.00p -1.78%
Petershill Partners (PHLL) 251.50p -1.76%