London midday: Stocks slide as China's economic growth slows

UK stocks were in the red on Friday as data showed China’s economic growth slowed in the first quarter and as oil prices declined.

China’s gross domestic product rose 6.7% year-on-year in the first three months of the year, down from 6.8% growth the previous quarter, the National Bureau of Statistics said. The figure was in line with analysts’ estimates but marked the slowest quarterly growth for China since the height of the financial crisis in 2009.

Other Chinese data came in more positive. Retail sales jumped 10.3% in March, beating forecasts for a 10.2% increase. Industrial production climbed 6.8% in March compared to forecasts for a 6% gain.

In the UK, data from the Office for National Statistics revealed construction output dipped 0.3% in February compared with the previous month, falling short of expectations for no change. Compared with the same month last year, output rose 0.3% versus analysts’ forecasts for a 0.7% increase.

Meanwhile, oil prices retreated ahead of Sunday’s meeting in Doha between global producers to discuss a potential output freeze.

“Any suggestion that output will be cut would likely be the trigger for more significant gains in oil but that strikes me as being very unlikely at this stage,” said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at Oanda.

“I think it’s far more likely that they won’t live up to expectations and the path of least resistance in oil is therefore to the downside.”

Brent crude fell 1.5% to $43.19 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate dropped 1.6% to $40.81 per barrel at 1140 BST.

Still to come, the US will see the release of the Empire manufacturing report at 1330 BST, industrial production figures at 1415 BST and the University of Michigan’s consumer confidence survey at 1500 BST.

In company news, housebuilding stocks continued to slide after RICS warned that uncertainty ahead of the EU referendum on 23 June may impact the UK property market. The Bank of England also voiced concerns about a possible Brexit on Thursday as it decided to keep interest rates unchanged. Berkeley Group, Travis Perkins and Taylor Wimpey were among the biggest fallers on the FTSE 100.

Royal Bank of Scotland was a top riser a day after saying it was slashing 600 jobs at retail bank Natwest and closing 32 branches.

SABMiller gained after Anheuser-Busch InBev NV said it reached an agreement with the South African government to create a $69m investment fund and other commitments to help it secure regulatory approval of its acquisition of the beverage maker.

Man Group advanced after Shore Capital argued that the company’s shares were significantly undervalued, following its first quarter update.

William Hill slumped after Goldman Sachs downgraded the stock to ‘neutral’ from ‘buy’ and cut the target price to 380p from 460p.

Poundland was in the red after HSBC downgraded it to ‘hold’ from ‘buy’ and slashed its target price to 160p from 290p after disappointingly slow growth in core trading with no recovery expected until the second half of 2017.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 6,341.91 -0.36%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 16,928.60 -0.43%
techMARK (TASX) 3,171.64 -0.31%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 234.90p 1.42%
SABMiller (SAB) 4,273.00p 1.28%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 468.80p 0.82%
Vodafone Group (VOD) 228.15p 0.60%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 519.10p 0.48%
Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 1,821.00p 0.41%
Tesco (TSCO) 178.35p 0.39%
BAE Systems (BA.) 512.50p 0.39%
Merlin Entertainments (MERL) 466.30p 0.34%
Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,200.00p 0.33%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 2,858.00p -3.97%
Travis Perkins (TPK) 1,802.00p -3.12%
Anglo American (AAL) 668.70p -3.12%
ARM Holdings (ARM) 977.50p -3.03%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 172.40p -2.60%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 509.00p -2.49%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 830.00p -2.18%
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 2,869.00p -2.02%
Kingfisher (KGF) 360.90p -1.98%
Standard Life (SL.) 340.20p -1.87%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Man Group (EMG) 159.70p 5.41%
Circassia Pharmaceuticals (CIR) 273.00p 4.60%
Evraz (EVR) 131.00p 3.80%
Restaurant Group (RTN) 372.50p 3.10%
Indivior (INDV) 162.40p 2.65%
IP Group (IPO) 165.30p 1.72%
Vectura Group (VEC) 175.70p 1.56%
Cranswick (CWK) 2,387.00p 1.49%
Rathbone Brothers (RAT) 2,119.00p 1.48%
B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 276.30p 1.47%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

McCarthy & Stone (MCS) 252.30p -5.51%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 216.10p -4.25%
Clarkson (CKN) 2,155.00p -4.22%
Mitchells & Butlers (MAB) 273.90p -4.10%
Redrow (RDW) 361.80p -3.42%
Sophos Group (SOPH) 207.20p -2.95%
Crest Nicholson Holdings (CRST) 485.10p -2.88%
Bellway (BWY) 2,300.00p -2.83%
Howden Joinery Group (HWDN) 449.60p -2.64%
G4S (GFS) 191.50p -2.45%