London midday: Stocks pare gains but Reckitt rallies on McCormick deal
London stocks had pared gains by midday to trade just a smidgen higher as investors sifted through corporate news.
The FTSE 100 was up 0.1% to 7,394.07, while the pound was 0.3% firmer against the euro at 1.1324 and down 0.1% versus the dollar at 1.3025.
On the corporate front, Reckitt Benckiser rallied as it agreed to sell its food business for $4.2bn (£3.2bn) to Schwartz spices owner McCormick.
Aviva rose as it agreed to sell Friends Provident International for £340m to RL360, a subsidiary of International Financial Group, while RPC Group surged as it unveiled a £100m share buyback and said first-quarter revenue was "well ahead" of last year.
Ashtead gained ground after saying its North American business, Sunbelt Rentals, has agreed to buy Canadian rental equipment provider CRS Contractors Rental Supply for an initial cash consideration of CAD275m.
Low-cost carrier Wizz Air flew higher as it reported a 15.6% jump in first-quarter pre-tax profit as revenue rose, partly thanks to a strong performance over Easter.
Shares in AA rose sharply as Barclays initiated coverage of the stock at 'overweight', while housebuilder Galliford Try was boosted by an initiation of coverage at 'buy' by Liberum.
Going the other way, water company Severn Trent nudged lower despite lifting its guidance for its business services division following the sale of its North American business, while GlaxoSmithKline slipped a touch amid reports the pharmaceuticals giant is looking to sell off its Horlicks business.
TalkTalk retreated as it said revenues in the three months to the end of June fell 3.2% as strong growth in its corporate and wholesale broadband revenues was offset by a drop in consumer revenues.
Drax slumped as it posted a statutory pre-tax loss of £83m for the first half of this year compared to a £184.2m profit in the same period last year, while BHP Billiton nudged down after a mixed production update.
There are no major UK data releases due but in the US housing starts and building permits are at 1330 BST.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,394.07 0.05%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,578.11 -0.18%
techMARK (TASX) 3,500.96 -0.08%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Sage Group (SGE) 683.50p 1.71%
Micro Focus International (MCRO) 2,210.00p 1.66%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 7,918.00p 1.36%
Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 407.60p 1.32%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 602.50p 1.26%
CRH (CRH) 2,775.00p 1.13%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 1,649.00p 1.10%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 184.00p 1.10%
Associated British Foods (ABF) 2,941.00p 0.96%
Pearson (PSON) 636.00p 0.95%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Royal Mail (RMG) 400.50p -2.58%
easyJet (EZJ) 1,383.00p -2.12%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 608.00p -2.09%
Paddy Power Betfair (PPB) 7,615.00p -1.99%
Mediclinic International (MDC) 730.50p -1.95%
Kingfisher (KGF) 297.80p -1.39%
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,508.00p -1.18%
Smurfit Kappa Group (SKG) 2,298.00p -1.12%
Provident Financial (PFG) 2,315.00p -1.07%
Worldpay Group (WPG) 375.40p -0.85%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Galliford Try (GFRD) 1,320.00p 4.02%
RPC Group (RPC) 876.00p 3.98%
CLS Holdings (CLI) 209.50p 3.71%
AA (AA.) 240.90p 3.30%
Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 652.50p 2.84%
Thomas Cook Group (TCG) 97.00p 2.37%
Sirius Minerals (SXX) 31.42p 2.35%
Softcat (SCT) 384.50p 1.99%
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 347.60p 1.79%
Electrocomponents (ECM) 621.50p 1.72%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
QinetiQ Group (QQ.) 251.90p -8.20%
Just Eat (JE.) 672.50p -5.94%
Hunting (HTG) 480.90p -4.39%
Drax Group (DRX) 331.70p -3.99%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 156.80p -3.15%
Spire Healthcare Group (SPI) 351.20p -2.42%
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 1,356.00p -2.02%
BGEO Group (BGEO) 3,442.00p -2.02%
Capita (CPI) 660.50p -2.00%
IG Group Holdings (IGG) 634.50p -1.78%