London midday: Stocks stay down ahead of ECB; Howden bucks trend
London stocks were still in the red by midday on Thursday as investors waded through an avalanche of corporate updates, mulled the latest UK borrowing figures and looked ahead to the latest policy announcement from the European Central Bank.
The FTSE 100 was down 0.4% at 7,234.53.
Victoria Scholar, head of investment at Interactive Investor, said: "Markets are treading water ahead of the crucial European Central Bank rate decision at lunchtime. The ECB is expected to hike rates for the first time in 11 years, ending its experiment with negative interest rates. Financial markets are pricing in a 25-basis point hike although a 50-basis point increase remains a possibility amid pressure to follow the Fed and other central banks with more aggressive interest rate increases."
On home shores, data out earlier from the Office for National Statistics showed that public sector net borrowing rose by £4.1bn to £22.9bn in June, which is the second-highest for June since monthly records began in 1993.
The figures was above consensus expectations of £22.5bn and higher than the Office for Budget Responsibility’s March forecast of £22.3bn.
In equity markers, Dechra Pharmaceuticals slid after it raised around £180m in a discounted share placing for the acquisition of US-based Piedmont Animal Health.
Ocado was under the cosh as the online supermarket’s interim losses grew to £211m from £28m a year earlier.
Anglo-Russian precious metals miner Polymetal was also weaker after it reported a drop in second-quarter revenues as it said sanctions against Russia have continued to impact sales.
On the upside, kitchen supplier Howden Joinery rallied after it posted a jump in first-half profit and revenue as it said it was trading "well ahead" of pre-Covid levels and backed its outlook for the year.
JD Sports rose again following reports it is looking to sell the Footasylum chain to Aurelius Group.
Frasers surged after lifting its full-year profit outlook despite a "challenging" backdrop. The company now expects adjusted pre-tax profit for the full year to be between £450m and £500m, up from previous guidance of £300m to £350m.
Moneysupermarket.com advanced as it said its first-half performance was ahead of expectations, with a stronger return to growth in travel insurance and travel than expected and "exceptional" trading in the money division in the second quarter.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,234.53 -0.41%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,621.30 1.14%
techMARK (TASX) 4,377.55 0.63%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Howden Joinery Group (HWDN) 654.80p 4.10%
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 144.95p 3.68%
Spirax-Sarco Engineering (SPX) 11,245.00p 3.21%
Experian (EXPN) 2,847.00p 3.19%
RS Group (RS1) 1,007.00p 2.86%
Halma (HLMA) 2,237.00p 2.76%
Rightmove (RMV) 632.00p 2.70%
Intertek Group (ITRK) 4,497.00p 2.51%
3i Group (III) 1,226.50p 2.46%
Intermediate Capital Group (ICP) 1,451.00p 2.44%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Harbour Energy (HBR) 333.40p -4.80%
Dechra Pharmaceuticals (DPH) 3,558.00p -4.61%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 746.20p -3.69%
BAE Systems (BA.) 782.60p -2.56%
Endeavour Mining (EDV) 1,559.00p -2.50%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 10,690.00p -2.09%
Glencore (GLEN) 417.20p -2.08%
Avast (AVST) 516.60p -1.97%
Shell (SHEL) 2,012.00p -1.88%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 3,399.50p -1.85%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Frasers Group (FRAS) 901.00p 20.13%
Moneysupermarket.com Group (MONY) 215.60p 12.23%
IG Group Holdings (IGG) 757.50p 6.47%
Genus (GNS) 2,626.00p 5.80%
HarbourVest Global Private Equity Limited A Shs (HVPE) 2,235.00p 5.42%
Diploma (DPLM) 2,690.00p 5.08%
TP Icap Group (TCAP) 119.00p 4.85%
Molten Ventures (GROW) 474.00p 4.82%
Dunelm Group (DNLM) 865.00p 4.72%
Future (FUTR) 1,995.00p 3.74%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Polymetal International (POLY) 180.00p -20.00%
Carnival (CCL) 725.00p -7.24%
Pennon Group (PNN) 965.00p -3.50%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 77.10p -3.17%
Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 107.10p -3.16%
FirstGroup (FGP) 131.70p -2.44%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 43.48p -2.42%
Investec (INVP) 425.30p -2.39%
Energean (ENOG) 1,097.00p -2.32%
Wetherspoon (J.D.) (JDW) 556.50p -2.11%