London midday: Stocks slide after weak earnings from StanChart and BHP

London stocks were in the red on Tuesday with Standard Chartered and BHP Billiton the biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 after disappointing earnings.

BHP Billiton led mining stocks lower after swinging to a loss for the first time in more than 16 years. The group posted a loss of $5.67bn for the six months to December 2015, compared to a profit of $5.35bn for the same period in 2014, as lower commodity prices hurt revenue. The company decided to cut its interim dividend to 16 cents a share from 62 cents a share.

Standard Chartered was under the cosh after it posted a surprise annual pre-tax loss of $1.5bn, down from profit of $4.2bn a year earlier. Revenue fell 15% to $15.4bn, missing estimates of $15.9bn.The bank’s decision to expand across emerging markets has left it with bad loans after an economic slowdown and slide in commodity prices. Standard Chartered’s common equity Tier 1 capital ratio fell to 12.6% from 13.1% at 30 September.

GKN was also on the back foot after posting a broadly flat annual profit as growth in sales of auto and aircraft parts offset declines in agricultural components.

Drax slumped as it revealed a drop in full year earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation to £169m in 2015 from £229m a year earlier amid severe market deterioration and difficult regulatory challenges.

On the upside, housebuilding stocks reversed declines after Persimmon reported a 34% increase in full year underlying profit before tax to £637m, as revenues rose 13% to £2.9bn, driven by a gain in the average selling price and a jump in legal completions.

Meggitt was also sitting higher after reporting a 1% increase in 2015 pre-tax profit on a 6% rise in revenue despite what the chief executive described as a “challenging year for the group”.

InterContinental Hotels rallied as it announced a robust set of final results while earnings results from Morgan Advanced Materials, Wood Group and Ladbrokes were also given the thumbs up by investors.

Meanwhile, Brexit remained in focus with the latest reports showing that bosses at more than a third of Britain’s biggest businesses are backing the campaign to remain in the European Union. Asda, BT, Marks & Spencer, Kingfisher and Vodafone chiefs supported a letter warning of the risks to the economy of exiting the bloc.

London Mayor Boris Johnson on Tuesday accused the business leaders of "supporting alarm and anxiety" by signing the letter. His shock decision to back the campaign to leave the EU sent the pound tumbling on Monday. The pound was down 0.26% against the US dollar at 1145 GMT on Tuesday.

Bank of England Governor Mark Carney on Tuesday said the central bank was not making a judgement on the consequences of Brexit.

In a testimony to UK lawmakers, Carney said the BoE takes into account the movement in asset prices and that moves in the pound and in options that insure against a decline in the currency at a future date “have spiked to levels” similar to those seen in the Scottish referendum campaign.

Elsewhere, the IFO revealed that German business confidence declined in February. The sentiment index dropped to 105.7 this month from 107.3 in January, missing analysts’ estimates of 106.8.

Still to come, the S&P/Case Shiller house price index is released at 1400 GMT, US consumer confidence figures are due at 1500 GMT and existing home sales data will be published at 1500 GMT.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 6,004.65 -0.55%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 16,288.06 -0.00%
techMARK (TASX) 3,127.65 -0.10%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Persimmon (PSN) 2,041.00p 3.45%
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 2,535.00p 3.30%
Provident Financial (PFG) 3,292.00p 2.91%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 673.00p 2.20%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 570.00p 1.79%
Sports Direct International (SPD) 405.40p 1.50%
Barclays (BARC) 167.30p 1.30%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 545.50p 1.30%
HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 451.60p 1.28%
ARM Holdings (ARM) 955.50p 1.16%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Standard Chartered (STAN) 412.40p -5.48%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 764.00p -3.90%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 497.60p -3.85%
Anglo American (AAL) 467.75p -3.31%
GKN (GKN) 280.00p -3.08%
Inmarsat (ISAT) 990.00p -2.65%
Glencore (GLEN) 129.25p -2.38%
Tesco (TSCO) 180.35p -2.33%
Pearson (PSON) 802.00p -2.08%
BP (BP.) 350.05p -1.85%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Meggitt (MGGT) 430.80p 11.58%
Morgan Advanced Materials (MGAM) 229.50p 6.40%
Wood Group (John) (WG.) 619.00p 6.08%
Ladbrokes (LAD) 129.70p 5.96%
Indivior (INDV) 164.70p 3.85%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 169.60p 3.73%
Croda International (CRDA) 2,952.00p 3.22%
Poundland Group (PLND) 177.40p 2.72%
Pets at Home Group (PETS) 267.70p 2.41%
Auto Trader Group (AUTO) 389.30p 2.37%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

AO World (AO.) 166.70p -3.75%
International Personal Finance (IPF) 262.70p -3.42%
Drax Group (DRX) 250.20p -3.14%
Unite Group (UTG) 611.00p -2.86%
Restaurant Group (RTN) 546.50p -2.58%
Victrex plc (VCT) 1,510.00p -2.45%
Sophos Group (SOPH) 200.50p -2.24%
Computacenter (CCC) 818.00p -2.04%
Paddy Power Betfair (PPB) 10,130.00p -1.84%
Lookers (LOOK) 149.40p -1.71%