London midday: Stocks ride global wave of post-Christmas optimism

London's equity markets were still above the waterline at lunchtime on Wednesday, following a late Santa rally on Wall Street overnight.

The FTSE 100 index was up 0.58%, standing at 7,741.85 points at midday, while the FTSE 250 index had gained 0.27% to 19,684.60.

In currency markets, sterling was last up 0.08% on the dollar to trade at $1.2735, while it weakened 0.08% against the euro, changing hands at €1.1514.

“Irrespective of the developments this week and early next, 2023 has already witnessed a Santa rally,” quipped SPI Asset Management managing partner Stephen Innes.

“The S&P exhibited a remarkable 16% increase from late October lows through Christmas.

“Aside from the customary Santa seasonality, any gains witnessed for the remainder of this week may be attributed to the notable increase in the probability of a soft landing, as indicated by the latest round of high-impact macroeconomic data from the US.”

Boxing Day footfall improves slightly, China industrial profits surge

On a quiet day for economic news globally, Boxing Day foot traffic in the UK showed a slight uptick, with a 1.4% increase in the number of shoppers compared to last year, according to preliminary data from MRI Software.

The rise in footfall was attributed to increased visits to high streets and retail parks.

However, when compared to 2019 levels before the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns, footfall on Boxing Day remained down 30%, indicating that consumer confidence and in-store shopping habits still had not fully returned to pre-Covid levels.

Elsewhere, China's industrial profits experienced a substantial boost in November, rising 29.5%, following a more modest 2.7% rise in October.

The surge in profits was primarily driven by improvements in the manufacturing sector and a significant upswing in industrial output during the same month.

Despite the positive momentum in November, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed that industrial earnings for the first 11 months of 2023 still showed a year-on-year contraction of 4.4%.

While that was significant, it represented an improvement from the 7.8% drop reported up to October.

The NBS attributed the November profit increase to accelerated growth in industrial profits and returns on investments.

AstraZeneca, Anglo American rise, Mobile Streams tumbles

On London’s equity markets, AstraZeneca was in the green as it announced its acquisition of Gracell Biotechnologies, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical firm specialising in cell therapies for cancer and autoimmune diseases.

The deal, valued at $1.2bn, included an upfront cash payment of $2 per share, representing a substantial 62% premium over Gracell's closing market price on 22 December.

Additionally, a non-tradable contingent value right of 30 cents per share would be payable on achieving specific regulatory milestones.

HgCapital Trust was also higher after it announced a partial sale of IRIS Software Group to LGP, a Los Angeles-based private equity firm.

The exact terms of the transaction were not disclosed, but the valuation of HGT's investment in IRIS was £99.8m based on the deal.

HGT said it anticipated a net distribution of £42.1m.

Aviva was also rising, after it announced expectations of additional proceeds of £80m from the sale of its stake in Singapore Life (Singlife) to Sumitomo Life.

The supplementary income would arise from a separate transaction in which Sumitomo Life would acquire TPG's equity stake in Singlife.

Aviva said it now expected to receive total proceeds from the sale of £930m.

Anglo American experienced a boost in its stock value amid reports of its intention to sell a minority stake in the Woodsmith fertiliser mine project in North Yorkshire, to help it with expected costs of $9bn.

On the downside, AIM-traded data intelligence firm Mobile Streams was in the red after it reported a significant decline in gross profits for the year ended 30 June.

Gross profits plummeted to £12,000 from £0.45m year-on-year, while gross profit margins decreased from 44% to just 1%.

The decline was attributed to the inclusion of "significant upfront royalties" on NFT contract revenues.

On an underlying earnings level, trading EBITDA resulted in a loss of £2.8m, widening from £1.4m year-on-year.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,741.88 0.00%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,684.37 0.00%
techMARK (TASX) 4,312.86 0.00%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Anglo American (AAL) 1,999.00p 3.48%
Entain (ENT) 1,011.50p 3.21%
Rentokil Initial (RTO) 446.60p 3.07%
Intertek Group (ITRK) 4,287.00p 2.36%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 742.00p 2.34%
Spirax-Sarco Engineering (SPX) 10,565.00p 1.93%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 5,472.00p 1.82%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 663.80p 1.81%
Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 799.00p 1.65%
Barclays (BARC) 154.20p 1.59%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Vodafone Group (VOD) 68.14p -1.47%
BT Group (BT.A) 125.80p -1.18%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 299.90p -0.83%
Imperial Brands (IMB) 1,806.00p -0.71%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 144.45p -0.52%
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 4,750.00p -0.50%
Next (NXT) 8,170.00p -0.49%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 271.00p -0.37%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 563.80p -0.35%
Haleon (HLN) 320.45p -0.33%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Future (FUTR) 773.50p 3.76%
PureTech Health (PRTC) 189.00p 3.62%
FDM Group (Holdings) (FDM) 457.50p 3.51%
Darktrace (DARK) 363.80p 3.50%
BlackRock World Mining Trust (BRWM) 593.00p 2.95%
Greencoat UK Wind (UKW) 150.80p 2.65%
Diversified Energy Company (DEC) 1,119.50p 2.33%
Genus (GNS) 2,222.00p 2.30%
Bellevue Healthcare Trust (Red) (BBH) 152.00p 2.29%
AO World (AO.) 99.55p 2.21%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Carnival (CCL) 1,300.50p -4.83%
TP Icap Group (TCAP) 192.00p -1.89%
JTC (JTC) 804.50p -1.83%
RHI Magnesita N.V. (DI) (RHIM) 3,174.00p -1.73%
Harbour Energy (HBR) 307.30p -1.73%
Mitchells & Butlers (MAB) 256.00p -1.54%
Target Healthcare Reit Ltd (THRL) 85.40p -1.50%
Caledonia Investments (CLDN) 3,500.00p -1.41%
Domino's Pizza Group (DOM) 378.60p -1.41%
easyJet (EZJ) 510.80p -1.39%