London midday: Stocks rise as investors digest earnings, PMIs

London stocks edged higher on Tuesday as investors weighed corporate earnings and data on UK and Chinese manufacturing.

At midday, the FTSE 100 rose 0.15% to 6,964.35 points.

The pound was down 0.07% versus the dollar at $1.2233 after rebounding late on Monday on news that Bank of England governor Mark Carney will remain in his post until 2019, which is a year longer than he was expected to stay on.

Royal Dutch Shell was the top riser on the FTSE 100 after reporting third quarter profits that beat expectations.

FTSE 250 transport operator Go-Ahead nudged higher after saying its expectations for the full year remain unchanged, as it reported “robust” trading in the first quarter despite a series of Southern Rail strikes.

Moneysupermarket surged as it said it was on track to meet forecasts for a record year after a resurge in insurance offset a flat period for credit card and loan switching in the third quarter.

In contrast, BP slumped after it said underlying third-quarter profits halved compared to last year, although the fall was not as bad as feared.

Weir Group declined as it said full-year 2016 profit was likely to be slightly below market expectations due to tough trading conditions.

Virgin Money slipped despite reporting a rise in gross mortgage lending for the nine months to the end of September and expressing confidence that the Brexit vote would not affect its full-year performance.

On the data front, the UK manufacturing sector deteriorated more than expected in October.

The Markit/CIPS UK manufacturing purchasing managers’ index fell to 54.3 from 55.5 in September, missing expectations for a reading of 54.5. Still, it remained well above its long-run average of 51.5 and higher than the 50 level that separates an expansion from a contraction.

Rob Dobson, senior economist at survey compilers Markit, said: “The UK manufacturing sector remained on a firm footing in October and should return to growth in the fourth quarter. Despite slowing from September’s highs, growth of output and new orders continued to defy expectations, rising at marked rates and supporting the fastest job creation in a year.”

China’s official manufacturing PMI rose to 51.2 in October from 50.4 in September, surprising analysts who had expected a reading of 50.3.

The Caixin China manufacturing PMI also climbed to 51.2 in October from 50.1 a month earlier, beating forecasts for no change.

Meanwhile, Chinese service activity expanded further with the official PMI rising to 54.0 last month from 53.7 in September.

Elsewhere, both the Bank of Japan and the Reserve Bank of Australia stood pat on their monetary policies.

Looking ahead to afternoon trade, US manufacturing PMI is due from Markit at 1345 GMT while the ISM manufacturing index will be released at 1400 GMT.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 6,964.35 0.15%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 17,581.91 0.21%
techMARK (TASX) 3,354.32 -0.37%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 2,194.00p 3.74%
Royal Dutch Shell 'A' (RDSA) 2,109.50p 3.48%
Informa (INF) 692.00p 2.90%
Polymetal International (POLY) 916.50p 2.86%
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,686.00p 2.80%
Travis Perkins (TPK) 1,367.00p 2.55%
Direct Line Insurance Group (DLG) 353.30p 2.08%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 553.50p 1.93%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 7,380.00p 1.93%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 144.30p 1.83%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Standard Chartered (STAN) 677.20p -4.87%
BP (BP.) 473.30p -2.15%
Intertek Group (ITRK) 3,358.00p -1.76%
Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,166.00p -1.44%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 4,528.50p -1.30%
Intu Properties (INTU) 272.00p -1.27%
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 3,135.00p -1.26%
Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 223.70p -1.24%
BT Group (BT.A) 371.55p -1.17%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 929.00p -1.17%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Moneysupermarket.com Group (MONY) 284.20p 8.51%
Hill & Smith Holdings (HILS) 1,056.00p 5.18%
NCC Group (NCC) 199.00p 5.01%
Supergroup (SGP) 1,409.00p 4.68%
Bovis Homes Group (BVS) 790.50p 4.36%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 741.00p 3.85%
Acacia Mining (ACA) 536.00p 3.38%
Crest Nicholson Holdings (CRST) 420.00p 3.22%
Caledonia Investments (CLDN) 2,398.00p 3.10%
Rightmove (RMV) 3,847.00p 3.00%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Weir Group (WEIR) 1,613.00p -5.12%
BTG (BTG) 624.50p -5.09%
Hunting (HTG) 488.40p -3.00%
Rotork (ROR) 198.40p -2.75%
Aggreko (AGK) 781.50p -2.50%
Savills (SVS) 678.00p -2.31%
Amec Foster Wheeler (AMFW) 437.60p -2.15%
Virgin Money Holdings (UK) (VM.) 322.40p -2.01%
Pennon Group (PNN) 818.50p -1.92%
SEGRO (SGRO) 430.20p -1.60%