London midday: Stocks maintain gains; Tesco falls after update
London stocks were still in the black by midday on Friday, having taken their cue from a solid session on Wall Street.
The FTSE 100 was 0.3% firmer at 7,653.00, while sterling was trading at its highest level against the dollar since April 2022 amid expectations of further rate hikes.
Matt Britzman, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "The FTSE 100 opened higher, taking cues from both the US and Asian markets that have both made headway this week. The UK market is on its own streak this week, with yesterday marking the fourth consecutive session of gains as investors try and make heads or tails of mixed data from around the globe.
"US markets continue to push higher, the bulls were treated to economic data that suggests inflation is coming down and the economy is still in decent shape - pinning hopes on the idea that the Fed’s hawkish tone earlier in the week was somewhat overkill. The S&P 500 rose 1.2%, posting its sixth successive day of gains, and no prizes for guessing some of the leading names as Microsoft closed at record highs.
"The fact strength isn’t purely dominated by the tech sector continues to be positive for markets as a whole, but it’s still hard to see this trend continue without a pullback at some point. The S&P 500 is trading at over 19 times forecast earnings, a multiple more akin to times of expansion than when a recession’s looming overhead."
On home shores, data out earlier showed that retail sales strengthened last week as the warm weather helped boost demand for clothing.
According the latest BDO High Street Sales Tracker, total like-for-like sales rose 2.95% in the week ending 11 June, compared to a rise of 7.63% in the same week a year previously. It was the second consecutive week of sales growth, following a fortnight of negative data.
In-store sales rose 5.39%, while non-store sales jumped 6.56%.
Leading the increase was fashion, with like-for-like sales ahead 5.07%. Lifestyle sales also rose, by 1.7%, but homewares declined 2.27%, the eighteenth negative result for the category so far this year.
BDO said that footfall was 4.2% stronger compared to the same week in 2022, with high streets seeing the best growth, up 5.4% year-on-year. Retail parks and shopping centres saw footfall improve by 2.1% and 3.8% respectively.
In equity markets, electricals retailer Currys rallied after saying it was considering putting its Greek business Kotsovolos up for sale, as it kicks off a strategic review.
Supermarket giant Tesco edged down despite saying that first-quarter sales had surged 8.8%, maintaining annual guidance and pointing to "encouraging" early signs that inflation was starting to ease for customers.
ITV edged lower as the broadcaster confirmed it is in talks about the possible acquisition of All3Media, the independent production company behind The Traitors. Responding to press speculation, the broadcaster said in a brief statement that it was "actively exploring" a potential deal.
Travis Perkins tumbled after the builders’ merchant warned on profits as higher interest rates and weaker consumer confidence weighed heavily on house building. The company said it had "not seen the anticipated easing of market conditions in the second quarter to date".
Building materials distributor Grafton, Wickes and B&Q owner Kingfisher also lost ground.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,653.00 0.32%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,110.52 0.37%
techMARK (TASX) 4,594.82 0.70%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Ocado Group (OCDO) 445.20p 3.53%
Entain (ENT) 1,241.50p 3.29%
Frasers Group (FRAS) 704.00p 2.92%
Persimmon (PSN) 1,205.00p 1.95%
British Land Company (BLND) 340.40p 1.70%
Centrica (CNA) 117.55p 1.69%
SSE (SSE) 1,867.50p 1.61%
National Grid (NG.) 1,050.00p 1.50%
RS Group (RS1) 808.60p 1.48%
BT Group (BT.A) 136.55p 1.41%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Anglo American (AAL) 2,524.50p -2.15%
Airtel Africa (AAF) 127.50p -1.47%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 5,273.00p -1.31%
Tesco (TSCO) 261.10p -1.29%
Fresnillo (FRES) 660.20p -1.11%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,552.50p -1.08%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 269.50p -1.06%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 5,432.00p -0.98%
Kingfisher (KGF) 233.70p -0.97%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 445.10p -0.69%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Darktrace (DARK) 338.60p 10.37%
Digital 9 Infrastructure NPV (DGI9) 68.50p 3.79%
Carnival (CCL) 1,135.00p 3.23%
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 309.60p 3.20%
Bank of Georgia Group (BGEO) 3,005.00p 3.09%
Helios Towers (HTWS) 95.80p 3.01%
Auction Technology Group (ATG) 762.00p 2.83%
easyJet (EZJ) 505.60p 2.68%
Baltic Classifieds Group (BCG) 169.20p 2.67%
Abrdn Private Equity Opportunities Trust (APEO) 455.00p 2.48%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Travis Perkins (TPK) 816.00p -5.86%
Grafton Group Ut (CDI) (GFTU) 823.90p -3.09%
Marshalls (MSLH) 269.60p -2.32%
Volution Group (FAN) 394.80p -2.23%
Morgan Sindall Group (MGNS) 1,832.00p -1.82%
Genuit Group (GEN) 328.00p -1.65%
Redrow (RDW) 472.60p -1.54%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 89.00p -1.49%
Ibstock (IBST) 157.50p -1.44%
Jupiter Fund Management (JUP) 109.50p -1.35%