London midday: Stocks rise on debt ceiling hopes

Stocks were modestly higher come midday on the back of the positive headlines around the ongoing debt ceiling talks in the US, although analysts were cautious.

In remarks made overnight, Lael Brainard, the head of the US National Economic Council, said that talks thus far had been "serious" and "constructive", even as she added that a debt default would be "catastrophic" for the economy.

President Joe Biden was to meet the Republican speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy, on Tuesday, ahead of the former's departure on the following day for the G-7 summit in Japan.

“I remain optimistic because I’m a congenital optimist. But I really think there's a desire on their part as well as ours to reach an agreement and I think we’ll be able to do it,

As of 1222 BST, the FTSE 100 was trading up by 0.48% to 7,791.6q, while the second-tier index was 0.22% higher alongside at 19,244.20.

No major economic releases were scheduled in the UK, but Bank of England chief economist, Huw Pill, was due to deliver a speech at 1700 BST.

They would be followed at 1330 BST by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York's regional factory sector index.

Several top Fed officials were expected to deliver speeches or make remarks on Monday.

Apollo pulls Wood Group bid

US private equity firm Apollo Global on Monday pulled plans to make a takeover offer for UK oil industry engineer Wood Group. Apollo had made five approaches for the company and was had to table a firm bid or walk away by May 17. In response, the Wood board said it remained confident in its strategic direction and long-term prospects and believes that, "following a transformative year in 2022, including new executive leadership and a new strategy" the company was "well placed to deliver substantial value for shareholders".

Diploma posted a strong set of results for the first half of its financial year. Revenues were up ahead by 30% to £582.8m and by 10% on an organic basis. It also said that the back half had begun "positively", which led management to raise its full-year guidance. Full-year organic growth was now pegged to come in at 7%. That was on top of approximately another 7% rise in sales expected to accrue from acquisitions, net of disposals. In parallel, the company's leverage was seen declining to below 0.4 times before any acquisition investment.

UK electricals retailer Currys on Monday lifted its full-year earnings guidance after trading in the final two months of its fiscal year were better-than-expected. Adjusted pre-tax profit for the year to April 29 is now expected to come in at £110 – 120m compared with previous guidance of £104m, citing improved profits driven by continued gross margin improvements and management focus on cost efficiencies. It added that an in-year benefit from non-repeating mobile debtor revaluation had been higher than prior year and forecast.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,791.78 0.48%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,242.15 0.28%
techMARK (TASX) 4,734.44 0.38%

FTSE 100 - Risers

3i Group (III) 1,872.00p 2.38%
SEGRO (SGRO) 822.80p 2.34%
Flutter Entertainment (CDI) (FLTR) 16,275.00p 2.23%
Anglo American (AAL) 2,382.50p 1.93%
Mondi (MNDI) 1,305.50p 1.91%
Glencore (GLEN) 439.10p 1.57%
Endeavour Mining (EDV) 2,084.00p 1.56%
HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 608.20p 1.42%
Haleon (HLN) 347.75p 1.38%
Compass Group (CPG) 2,184.00p 1.25%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 145.45p -1.92%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 436.60p -1.09%
London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) 8,506.00p -0.56%
Admiral Group (ADM) 2,243.00p -0.49%
Experian (EXPN) 2,739.00p -0.44%
Hiscox Limited (DI) (HSX) 1,165.00p -0.43%
Vodafone Group (VOD) 89.51p -0.39%
Sage Group (SGE) 813.40p -0.34%
Tesco (TSCO) 274.80p -0.33%
WPP (WPP) 892.60p -0.29%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Currys (CURY) 59.10p 5.63%
Trainline (TRN) 279.80p 4.48%
HGCapital Trust (HGT) 376.50p 3.58%
Genuit Group (GEN) 305.50p 3.21%
Ithaca Energy (ITH) 159.90p 3.03%
FDM Group (Holdings) (FDM) 650.00p 2.85%
Pantheon International (PIN) 269.00p 2.67%
IP Group (IPO) 54.60p 2.44%
CLS Holdings (CLI) 131.20p 2.34%
The European Smaller Companies Trust (ESCT) 161.50p 2.22%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Wood Group (John) (WG.) 144.20p -34.16%
ASOS (ASC) 423.00p -16.24%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 23.16p -2.69%
Baltic Classifieds Group (BCG) 155.60p -2.02%
Helios Towers (HTWS) 90.25p -1.90%
Just Group (JUST) 88.30p -1.67%
Jupiter Fund Management (JUP) 121.00p -1.63%
Genus (GNS) 2,554.00p -1.39%
Hunting (HTG) 210.00p -1.18%
Lancashire Holdings Limited (LRE) 610.50p -0.97%