London midday: Stocks slump after US selloff, amid corporate avalanche

London stocks were still weaker by midday on Thursday as investors waded through a barrage of corporate news, having taken their opening cue from a downbeat session on Wall Street, where tech names came under pressure.

The FTSE 100 was down 0.9% at 8,081.68.

Dan Coatsworth, investment analyst at AJ Bell, said: "Wednesday’s big slump in tech stocks saw US indices endure their worst session since 2022.

"The weakness bled into Asian trading sessions on Thursday and prompted a slow start in Europe too, although the FTSE 100’s limited exposure to technology likely spared it from larger losses.

"While a $1 trillion sell-off makes for a neat headline it is worth putting last night’s weakness into perspective given indices were recently trading at record highs and there were big moves in some enormous companies. Whether this is a necessary correction to remove some froth from the market or something more dramatic will depend on forthcoming earnings from the likes of Microsoft, Meta, Apple and Amazon next week as well as AI-star Nvidia at the end of August.

"The unpredictable US presidential election provides a dose of uncertainty which investors always hate, but that alone won’t have been the cause of the tech sell-off. Instead, it’s been bubbling away for a while and disappointment at Tesla and Alphabet’s figures seemed to open the flood gates."

In equity markets, Centrica tumbled as the British Gas owner said it was extending its share buyback programme but posted a drop in first-half profits in what it called a more "normalised" external environment. In the six months to 30 June, adjusted operating profit fell to £1.04bn from 2.08bn in the same period a year earlier, with pre-tax profit down to £1.1bn from £2.07bn.

Adjusted operating profit at British Gas Energy slid to £159m from £969m.

Rentokil and Airtel Africa were also in the red after results, while Lloyds Banking Group fell as it reported a fall in first-half profit as costs rose.

In the six months to the end of June, statutory pre-tax profit at the bank fell 14% from the same period a year earlier to £3.32bn. This was due to lower net interest income and higher operating expenses, partly offset by a lower impairment charge.

AstraZeneca lost ground even as the pharmaceuticals giant lifted its full-year guidance and posted an 18% increase in total revenue for the first half to $25.6bn, driven by significant growth in product sales and alliance revenue.

BT was under the cosh as it reiterated full-year targets after what it called a "solid start" to the year, with strong growth in fibre and customer numbers, but said revenues were held back by a weaker performance in the business division.

Centamin, CMC Markets and broadcaster ITV were also weaker after results.

On the upside, consumer goods company Unilever rallied despite posting worse-than-expected second-quarter underlying sales.

British American Tobacco gained as its first-half profits beat analysts’ expectations, with Imperial Brands also in the black.

Opioid addiction treatment maker Indivior surged as it announced a $100m share buyback programme and said second-quarter results were in line with updated guidance.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 8,081.68 -0.88%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,726.46 -1.07%
techMARK (TASX) 4,701.17 -1.06%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Unilever (ULVR) 4,679.00p 6.41%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 2,690.00p 4.43%
Imperial Brands (IMB) 2,128.00p 2.01%
Relx plc (REL) 3,539.00p 1.64%
Haleon (HLN) 344.20p 1.32%
Severn Trent (SVT) 2,512.00p 1.01%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 1,015.50p 0.94%
Compass Group (CPG) 2,314.00p 0.87%
Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,121.00p 0.85%
Diageo (DGE) 2,514.00p 0.70%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Pershing Square Holdings Ltd NPV (PSH) 3,748.00p -8.45%
Centrica (CNA) 131.10p -8.35%
Airtel Africa (AAF) 105.90p -7.91%
Intermediate Capital Group (ICG) 2,026.00p -4.43%
Fresnillo (FRES) 581.00p -4.28%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 5,056.00p -3.55%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 428.50p -3.47%
CRH (CDI) (CRH) 6,022.00p -3.37%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 11,808.00p -3.32%
WPP (WPP) 717.40p -3.24%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Indivior (INDV) 964.50p 16.49%
IG Group Holdings (IGG) 873.00p 3.31%
North Atlantic Smaller Companies Inv Trust (NAS) 4,140.00p 2.22%
Breedon Group (BREE) 401.00p 1.65%
Baltic Classifieds Group (BCG) 266.00p 1.14%
PZ Cussons (PZC) 105.80p 0.95%
Twentyfour Income Fund Limited Ord Red (TFIF) 103.60p 0.78%
Crest Nicholson Holdings (CRST) 255.40p 0.71%
BH Macro Ltd. GBP Shares (BHMG) 370.00p 0.68%
W.A.G Payment Solutions (WPS) 63.60p 0.63%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Centamin (DI) (CEY) 120.70p -6.72%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 171.80p -6.53%
ITV (ITV) 79.40p -5.87%
Endeavour Mining (EDV) 1,723.00p -4.60%
Howden Joinery Group (HWDN) 907.50p -4.22%
RHI Magnesita N.V. (DI) (RHIM) 3,420.00p -3.93%
Allianz Technology Trust (ATT) 355.00p -3.79%
Morgan Advanced Materials (MGAM) 318.50p -3.63%
Diversified Energy Company (DEC) 1,187.00p -3.57%
Carnival (CCL) 1,273.50p -3.49%