London midday: Vodafone leads UK markets higher, but resource stocks weigh
Strong gains from Vodafone and a string of property companies pushed UK shares into positive territory on Tuesday, though weakness in the resource sectors was limiting upside as the stock market fluctuated at a six-week high.
Anglo American
2,445.00p
17:15 07/10/24
Antofagasta
1,990.50p
17:15 07/10/24
BHP Group Limited NPV (DI)
2,327.00p
17:15 07/10/24
British Land Company
422.60p
17:15 07/10/24
CRH (CDI)
6,762.00p
16:55 07/10/24
Fresnillo
624.50p
17:15 07/10/24
FTSE 100
8,303.62
16:44 07/10/24
Hammerson
306.00p
16:35 07/10/24
Land Securities Group
628.00p
16:40 07/10/24
Randgold Resources Ltd.
6,546.00p
17:00 28/12/18
Renishaw
3,685.00p
16:45 07/10/24
Rio Tinto
5,300.00p
16:34 07/10/24
Shell 'A'
1,895.20p
17:05 28/01/22
Taylor Wimpey
162.40p
16:40 07/10/24
Tullow Oil
26.50p
16:46 07/10/24
Vodafone Group
74.50p
16:39 07/10/24
The FTSE 100 was up just 0.1% at 6,618 by midday, having pulled back slightly after hitting an intraday high of 6,632.57 early on.
Investors were treading cautiously after the index closed Monday's session at 6,611.25, its first finish above 6,600 since 30 September.
Across the Atlantic, both the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average benchmark indices closed at record highs again on Monday evening.
Market analyst Jasper Lawler from CMC Markets said to expect "another day of drift [...] as investors wait for more fundamental catalysts later in the week at home and abroad".
No major economic data was due out in the States due to the Veteran's Day holiday, though the equity markets will still be open. Stock futures on Wall Street were up around 0.1% across the board ahead of the opening bell.
Vodafone and real estate stocks gain
Vodafone shares surged nearly 6% after the mobile telecoms group impressed with its interim results and outlook, with earnings guidance for the full year now guided towards the higher end of expectations. Strong consumer demand for data helped revenues rise 8.9% in the six months to 30 September to ÂŁ20.8bn, marginally ahead of forecasts.
Land Securities wasn't far behind after reporting a massive increase in profits in its first half and a higher net asset value, saying that its portfolio is "now in much stronger shape". Pre-tax profit totalled ÂŁ1,031m in the six months to 30 September, compared with just ÂŁ397.9m the year before.
Others in the property sector including British Land and Hammerson were also in demand.
Housebuilder Taylor Wimpey was also wanted as it upgraded its margin guidance for the full year ahead of analysts' expectations as it hailed healthy demand in the UK housing market. Analyst Robin Hardy from Shore Capital said that Tuesday's update was "the most positive so far this season".
Leading the downside were oil producers Tullow Oil and Shell, and mining counterparts Fresnillo, Anglo American, Randgold, Rio Tinto, Antofagasta and BHP Billiton as commodity prices weakened. Brent oil was trading at a four-year low, while Citigroup dampened sentiment amongst the miners after cutting its forecast for iron ore prices.
Renishaw jumped 10% as the engineering firm beat forecasts with its full-year guidance, saying that it continues to see “strong demand” across its product lines. The engineering group expects a 35-50% increase in adjusted full-year profits, ahead of the 20% growth expected by analysts.
Building-materials firm CRH declined after saying that like-for-like sales growth slowed to 3% in the third quarter from 5% in the first half.
Market Movers
techMARK 2,829.23 +0.86%
FTSE 100 6,617.93 +0.10%
FTSE 250 15,618.49 +0.14%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Vodafone Group (VOD) 219.75p +5.73%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 263.10p +3.30%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 1,144.00p +2.97%
easyJet (EZJ) 1,586.00p +2.19%
Aggreko (AGK) 1,572.00p +2.08%
Babcock International Group (BAB) 1,102.00p +2.04%
G4S (GFS) 268.70p +1.90%
Admiral Group (ADM) 1,216.00p +1.76%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 420.30p +1.55%
Whitbread (WTB) 4,409.00p +1.54%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Tullow Oil (TLW) 486.00p -4.33%
Fresnillo (FRES) 716.00p -2.58%
CRH (CRH) 1,350.00p -2.53%
Sports Direct International (SPD) 640.00p -2.51%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 2,951.00p -2.41%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,329.00p -2.32%
BG Group (BG.) 1,035.50p -1.89%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 703.50p -1.68%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,644.50p -1.64%
Royal Dutch Shell 'A' (RDSA) 2,200.00p -1.54%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Renishaw (RSW) 1,942.00p +9.84%
Cairn Energy (CNE) 183.90p +3.90%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 121.30p +3.41%
Moneysupermarket.com Group (MONY) 203.00p +2.94%
Micro Focus International (MCRO) 1,039.00p +2.47%
Bank of Georgia Holdings (BGEO) 2,357.00p +2.43%
Bwin.party Digital Entertainment (BPTY) 105.00p +2.24%
Croda International (CRDA) 2,412.00p +2.20%
Northgate (NTG) 484.80p +2.06%
PayPoint (PAY) 935.00p +1.96%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Ocado Group (OCDO) 312.90p -5.72%
Afren (AFR) 78.35p -4.97%
TalkTalk Telecom Group (TALK) 282.00p -4.92%
Premier Oil (PMO) 247.10p -3.70%
African Barrick Gold (ABG) 205.00p -3.21%
Supergroup (SGP) 853.00p -2.85%
Foxtons Group (FOXT) 166.20p -2.81%
Lonmin (LMI) 189.70p -2.72%
EnQuest (ENQ) 70.10p -2.64%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 49.83p -2.49%