London midday: Stocks rise as Brexit concerns ease after poll

London stocks advanced on Tuesday after a new poll showed the Remain campaign for the European Union referendum is leading.

The Telegraph’s ORB poll revealed 55% of those wanting to stay in the EU and 42% who will vote to leave in the 23 June referendum.

The poll gave the pound a boost against the dollar, rising 0.74%. It also lifted housebuilding stocks, including Berkeley Group and Travis Perkins.

On the Brexit debate, Bank of England governor Mark Carney defended his stance on the matter during questions in Parliament on Tuesday.

During evidence given before the Treasury Select Committee, Carney said he believes the central bank has highlighted the key issues around the EU referendum, including short-term uncertainty and the potential change in the trade-off between output and inflation, and he would not expect “something substantially different” to be said.

It came after the Bank of England released a markedly stern warning earlier this month on the impact of Brexit on the economic outlook in the Quarterly Inflation Report.

The governor joined Monetary Policy Committee members Ben Broadbent, Gertjan Vlieghe and Martin Weale in front of the select committee.

In economic data, UK government borrowing was higher than expected in April. The Office for National Statistics said borrowing, excluding support for state-owned banks, was £7.2bn in April, more than forecasts of £6.6bn but down from £7.5bn the same month last year.

The lower figure reflected weaker-than-expected income from workers’ national insurance contributions.

In the eurozone, German gross domestic product in the first quarter was confirmed at 0.7% growth compared with 0.3% in the final quarter of last year. Destatis said positive contributions came mainly from domestic demand, which helped to offset weaker trade.

German investor confidence fell in May amid uncertainty over Brexit. ZEW’s economic sentiment index dropped to 6.4 in May from 11.2 a month earlier, beating estimates of 12.0.

The Eurozone economic sentiment index dropped to 16.8 in May from 21.5 in April, ZEW said.

Still to come, US new home sales figures are due at 1500 BST.

In commodities, oil prices fell on worries about a supply glut. Brent crude fell 0.66% to $48.03 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate dropped 0.39% to $47.89 per barrel at 1155 BST.

Iraq's oil output has reached 4.7 million barrels per day (bpd) and exports are running at a record 3.9 million bpd, the state-run Iraqi Media Network reported, citing Deputy Oil Minister Fayadh al-Nema.

On the company front, DIY retailer Kingfisher was a high riser after reporting a solid start to the year, with 6.2% like-for-like growth in B&Q and Screwfix stores in the UK and Ireland contributing to 3.6% group growth to £2.7bn.

Utility company Severn Trent was also in the black as it cut its dividend but posted a rise full-year profit.

Old Mutual edged up after confirming that it has received approaches from third parties to acquire its 66% stake in OM Asset Management.

Homeserve gained as the repair and insurance company posted a rise in profit for the year to the end of March as revenue and customer numbers grew.

Card Factory slumped as it reported lower sales growth for the first quarter due to weak consumer confidence.

Paragon declined amid concerns about the outlook on the buy-to-let market after the company reported a jump in first half profits driven by buy-to-let loans.

Aveva was in the doldrums after saying full year profits almost halved on the back of lower revenue and one-off exceptional costs related to the aborted merger with Schneider Electric.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 6,181.61 0.74%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 17,050.78 0.11%
techMARK (TASX) 3,089.13 0.31%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Tesco (TSCO) 165.35p 3.28%
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 240.10p 2.56%
Old Mutual (OML) 171.10p 2.27%
Imperial Brands (IMB) 3,742.50p 2.25%
Admiral Group (ADM) 1,920.00p 2.24%
Severn Trent (SVT) 2,261.00p 2.17%
Travis Perkins (TPK) 1,925.00p 2.07%
Aviva (AV.) 441.60p 2.01%
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 3,305.00p 1.97%
Kingfisher (KGF) 367.60p 1.97%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 1,316.00p -3.59%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 957.50p -1.64%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 6,025.00p -0.90%
easyJet (EZJ) 1,488.00p -0.67%
Paddy Power Betfair (PPB) 8,735.00p -0.63%
Inmarsat (ISAT) 720.00p -0.62%
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,073.00p -0.37%
Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 1,661.00p -0.36%
Merlin Entertainments (MERL) 417.00p -0.36%
Centrica (CNA) 202.30p -0.34%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Homeserve (HSV) 452.90p 5.01%
Evraz (EVR) 126.40p 3.35%
Mitchells & Butlers (MAB) 289.90p 3.28%
Brown (N.) Group (BWNG) 247.70p 2.65%
Aberdeen Asset Management (ADN) 281.70p 2.62%
Pennon Group (PNN) 843.00p 2.24%
International Personal Finance (IPF) 270.80p 2.19%
Pendragon (PDG) 41.01p 2.01%
Ibstock (IBST) 216.00p 1.89%
Halfords Group (HFD) 440.40p 1.87%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Aveva Group (AVV) 1,514.00p -5.38%
Card Factory (CARD) 360.90p -5.28%
Paragon Group Of Companies (PAG) 309.90p -4.32%
Intermediate Capital Group (ICP) 645.00p -3.87%
Weir Group (WEIR) 1,219.00p -2.79%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 109.00p -2.59%
Dairy Crest Group (DCG) 565.50p -2.25%
Cairn Energy (CNE) 205.30p -1.72%
Greencore Group (GNC) 349.60p -1.69%
Redefine International (RDI) 44.34p -1.69%