London midday: Stocks maintain gains; miners rally

London stocks were still firmly in the black by midday on Thursday amid hopes for a deal on the US debt ceiling and as worries about energy prices eased.

The FTSE 100 was up 1% at 7,065.42.

Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor, said: "Progress on debt ceiling talks in the US seems to suggest a temporary deal to avoid default, which gave markets a shot in the arm as the trading session progressed. At the same time, indications that Russia may be stepping up gas supplies also steadied energy prices, which have been the main culprit for the volatility which is currently being experienced.

"UK markets have also regained some ground, although as yet unable to recover the losses of the last few trading sessions.

"The spike in natural gas prices is seen as having a more profound impact in European economies and any resultant restriction on growth would negatively impact the largely cyclical constituents to be found within the premier index."

Investors were also mulling over the latest survey from Halifax, which showed that house prices rose in September at the fastest monthly pace since February 2007 amid a "race for space" as the stamp duty holiday drew to a close.

House prices increased 1.7% on the month to a record £267,587, following a 0.8% jump in August. On the year, prices were up 7.4% in September following a 7.2% increase in August.

Halifax managing director Russell Galley, said: "While the end of the stamp duty holiday in England - and a desire amongst homebuyers to close deals at speed - may have played some part in these figures, it’s important to remember that most mortgages agreed in September would not have completed before the tax break expired. This shows that multiple factors have played a significant role in house price developments during the pandemic.

"The ‘race-for-space’ as people changed their preferences and lifestyle choices undoubtedly had a major impact. Looking at price changes over the past year, prices for flats are up just 6.1%, compared to 8.9% for semi-detached properties and 8.8% for detached. This translates into cash increases for detached properties of nearly £41,000 compared to just £6,640 for flats."

In equity markets, mining stocks rallied, with Antofagasta, Anglo American, Rio and BHP all higher.

Royal Dutch Shell was firmer despite saying it expects third-quarter cash flow to be "significantly" impacted by surging gas and electricity prices. The company said it would take a $400m hit to earnings from Hurricane Ida which hit the Gulf of Mexico in August.

Fund management services provider JTC gained after it raised £78.9m in a placing to help fund the acquisition of US-based SALI for up to $236m.

On the downside, homeware retailer Dunelm was knocked lower by an initiation at ‘sell’ by Investec.

Kingfisher, Taylor Wimpey, DS Smith, Morgan Sindall, Synthomer and Vistry were all weaker as they traded without entitlement to the dividend.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,065.42 0.99%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 22,440.06 0.24%
techMARK (TASX) 4,517.34 0.25%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,351.00p 5.38%
Anglo American (AAL) 2,627.50p 4.02%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 467.30p 3.73%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 4,938.50p 3.22%
CRH (CDI) (CRH) 3,467.00p 2.82%
Fresnillo (FRES) 818.20p 2.79%
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 2,585.00p 2.66%
Polymetal International (POLY) 1,290.00p 2.63%
BHP Group (BHP) 1,878.20p 2.34%
Evraz (EVR) 574.60p 2.31%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 1,386.00p -2.05%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 145.65p -1.59%
Kingfisher (KGF) 319.80p -0.87%
Aveva Group (AVV) 3,456.00p -0.83%
Flutter Entertainment (CDI) (FLTR) 14,190.00p -0.70%
Admiral Group (ADM) 3,093.00p -0.61%
B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 558.40p -0.61%
Smith (DS) (SMDS) 388.10p -0.59%
Next (NXT) 7,616.00p -0.50%
Pearson (PSON) 738.80p -0.46%

FTSE 250 - Risers

TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 349.80p 6.97%
Moonpig Group (MOON) 300.80p 5.40%
JTC (JTC) 756.00p 5.29%
Workspace Group (WKP) 829.00p 3.88%
Petropavlovsk (POG) 20.68p 3.66%
RHI Magnesita N.V. (DI) (RHIM) 3,236.00p 3.39%
Centrica (CNA) 59.32p 3.02%
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 1,699.50p 2.97%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 305.40p 2.97%
Templeton Emerging Markets Inv Trust (TEM) 178.00p 2.77%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

IP Group (IPO) 122.80p -4.81%
Rathbone Brothers (RAT) 1,862.00p -3.82%
AO World (AO.) 154.50p -3.68%
Harbour Energy (HBR) 350.60p -3.31%
4Imprint Group (FOUR) 2,850.00p -2.56%
Dechra Pharmaceuticals (DPH) 4,674.00p -2.46%
Biffa (BIFF) 346.50p -2.39%
Bridgepoint Group (Reg S) (BPT) 495.00p -1.98%
Capita (CPI) 47.62p -1.94%
Greggs (GRG) 2,941.00p -1.93%