London midday: Stocks rise as BoE votes to keep interest rates unchanged

London stocks recovered slightly from losses earlier on Thursday as the Bank of England decided to keep interest rates unchanged.

The BoE’s Monetary Policy Committee voted 8-1 to maintain rates at 0.50% and its asset purchase programme at £375bn, as expected by analysts. Ian McCafferty was once again the only policymaker to vote for an interest rate increase.

“Ian McCafferty preferred to increase Bank Rate by 25 basis points, given his view that building domestic cost pressures were likely to come to outweigh the dampening influence of the appreciation of sterling, causing inflation to overshoot the 2% target in the medium term,” according to the meeting minutes released alongside the policy decision.

In the minutes the Bank highlighted weak inflation, low wages, potential risks from a slowdown in emerging markets as reasons for holding off on a rate rise.

The market is also awaiting meeting minutes from the European Central Bank and the Federal Reserve at 1230 BST and 1900 BST, respectively.

The ECB’s account of its 2-3 September meeting may provide clues on whether the central bank will extend its quantitative easing programme beyond September 2016. Any discussion on a potential cut to the deposit rate will be also closely monitored.

Later on, the Federal Reserve’s 16-17 September meeting minutes will be under the microscope for hints on the first interest rate rise in nearly a decade.

Fed Chair Janet Yellen has said policymakers expected an increase at its October or December meetings this year but last Friday’s weaker-than-anticipated non-farm payrolls report prompted some analysts to push back their expectations until next year.

Despite a slowing of job gains in September, Fed official John Williams said on Tuesday he still expects the central bank to begin raising rates this year. He said he believed the labour market has continued to improve and there have been no signs of a worsening global outlook.

"Things are looking up, and if they stay on track, I see this as the year we start the process of monetary policy normalisation," Williams said in a speech to the Urban Land Institute in San Francisco.

In company news, Inmarsat slumped as the company reiterated its guidance for the year and said there’s no material change in the trading environment for the group’s performance.

Rolls Royce rallied after saying it will step up plans to establish an Asian manufacturing capability to help the group double production with the introduction of new Boeing Co. and Airbus Group SE jets.

Ladbrokes gained after appointing Kristof Fahy as chief marketing officer to lead all brand and marketing activity across digital and retail.

Hays was lower as the recruitment company said currency movements have had an impact on its quarterly earnings.

Glencore declined on fresh fears over the company’s mounting debt and the repercussions it could have on the banking sector. Analysts at Bank of America said: “The banking industry may have significantly more exposure to Glencore than is generally appreciated in the market.”

Tullow Oil advanced after reaching an agreement with the government of Gabon over its licences in the Onal Complex Fields, regaining its 7.5% stake in the Onal Complex producing fields and the Ezanga block.

Market Movers

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FTSE 100 - Risers

Fresnillo (FRES) 695.00p +2.81%

BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,135.00p +2.44%

Tesco (TSCO) 201.00p +2.03%

Shire Plc (SHP) 4,409.00p +1.85%

Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 747.00p +1.77%

Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,478.00p +1.58%

Standard Chartered (STAN) 753.00p +1.56%

ARM Holdings (ARM) 951.00p +1.39%

Ashtead Group (AHT) 1,000.00p +1.37%

Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 4,317.00p +1.36%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Inmarsat (ISAT) 945.00p -3.18%

Glencore (GLEN) 121.00p -2.42%

Aviva (AV.) 472.90p -1.93%

Kingfisher (KGF) 353.00p -1.53%

Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 491.60p -1.50%

Wolseley (WOS) 3,704.00p -1.23%

Next (NXT) 7,645.00p -1.04%

Mondi (MNDI) 1,446.00p -0.89%

WPP (WPP) 1,399.00p -0.71%

Vodafone Group (VOD) 207.10p -0.62%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Evraz (EVR) 94.50p +5.59%

Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 128.30p +4.65%

NMC Health (NMC) 854.50p +2.95%

Telecom Plus (TEP) 1,107.00p +2.69%

Tullow Oil (TLW) 247.90p +2.35%

Cineworld Group (CINE) 569.50p +2.34%

Synthomer (SYNT) 339.80p +2.04%

Drax Group (DRX) 269.20p +2.01%

Informa (INF) 581.00p +1.93%

Dunelm Group (DNLM) 911.00p +1.79%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Hays (HAS) 137.30p -6.92%

IP Group (IPO) 222.10p -6.25%

Riverstone Energy Limited (RSE) 865.00p -5.21%

Weir Group (WEIR) 1,350.00p -3.78%

Vectura Group (VEC) 170.00p -3.13%

Clarkson (CKN) 2,165.00p -2.87%

Enterprise Inns (ETI) 105.50p -2.77%

Vesuvius (VSVS) 351.00p -2.72%

Sophos Group (SOPH) 226.60p -2.54%

Rank Group (RNK) 260.60p -2.54%

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Oxford Instruments (OXIG) 623.00p +1.88%

Filtronic (FTC) 6.88p +1.85%

KCOM Group (KCOM) 91.75p +0.82%

XP Power Ltd. (DI) (XPP) 1,650.00p +0.61%

E2V Technologies (E2V) 237.00p +0.42%

IShares Euro Gov Bond 7-10YR UCITS ETF (IEGM) € 203.56 +0.23%

SDL (SDL) 371.75p +0.20%

FTSE TechMARK - Fallers

NCC Group (NCC) 242.50p -4.72%

Dialight (DIA) 660.00p -1.05%

Skyepharma (SKP) 337.00p -0.81%

Ricardo (RCDO) 898.50p -0.44%

Spirent Communications (SPT) 75.50p -0.33%

Consort Medical (CSRT) 935.00p -0.16%