London midday: Airlines rise, but FTSE lower after weak data, macro concerns

US stock futures were also heading lower ahead of the opening bell on Wall Street as tech giant Microsoft underwhelmed with its earnings report.

The FTSE 100 was down 0.5% at 6,817 by midday, having settled at 6,852.40 at Monday, its best close since 5 September 2014.

The UK economic expansion slowed to just 0.5% in the fourth quarter of 2014, according to the Office for National Statistics, as contractions in construction and production weighed on growth. Economists had expected growth to come in at 0.6% after a 0.7% increase in the third quarter.

Martin Beck, an advisor to the EY ITEM Club, said the data was “surprisingly weak”, but there is “little cause for concern”. He said: “The collapse in the oil price over the past few months is unambiguously good news for the UK economy, with inflation set to move into negative territory and consumers enjoying a substantial boost to their spending power.”

Russia was in focus after Standard & Poor’s downgraded its credit rating to ‘junk’ on Monday night, saying that its “financial system is weakening”. This was the first time in a decade that Russian debt was judged to be below investment-grade by a major credit-ratings agency, and comes as the EU edges closer to tightening sanctions on Moscow.

“This is the latest blow to an already teetering Russian economy, which over the past few months has been hit by US and EU sanctions, plummeting oil prices, rising inflation and a toothless rouble,” said market strategist Daniel Sugarman from ETX Capital.

Meanwhile, investors were still digesting the outcome of the weekend’s Greek elections after anti-austerity, far-left party Syriza won the poll and agreed to form a coalition government with the centre-right Independent Greeks.

Easyjet and IAG flying higher, Afren plummets

Shares in Easyjet ascended after the British budget airline said it now expects an increase in revenues per seat in the first half. The company said revenue per seat at constant currency should rise by 2% on last year, compared with its previous guidance of “flat to very slightly up”. It also expects to report a loss before tax of £10m-30m in the first half, compared with a £53m loss the year before.

Sector peer IAG also gained after Aer Lingus to said it would recommend a sweetened €1.36bn takeover offer from the British Airways owner. “The board of Aer Lingus has indicated to IAG that the financial terms of the proposal are at a level at which it would be willing to recommend to Aer Lingus shareholders,” IAG said in a statement.

The share price of oil group Afren collapsed after the company said it needs to restructure its debts or receive an equity injection due to the “significant dislocation” in the oil market. Investors are still waiting on Nigerian producer Seplat to see if it makes a firm offer for the company. The stock was down 67%.

Online housing-market portal Zoopla surged as investors shrugged off the launch of Onthemarket.com, a new property site set up by estate agents hoping to break Zoopla’s and Rightmove’s control of the market.

Banks were under pressure, including HSBC, Barclays, Standard Chartered, RBS and Lloyds. HSBC was hit with a ratings cut at Investec from ‘add’ to ‘hold’, with the broker saying that the bank’s fourth-quarter results next month could disappoint.

Dixons Carphone was a heavy faller after Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock from ‘equal weight’ to ‘underweight’, saying that the shares were overvalued.

Market Movers
techMARK 3,075.75 -0.22%
FTSE 100 6,817.39 -0.51%
FTSE 250 16,428.22 -0.26%

FTSE 100 - Risers
Centrica (CNA) 278.70p +2.69%
easyJet (EZJ) 1,792.00p +2.05%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 5,540.00p +1.65%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 557.00p +1.46%
Glencore (GLEN) 255.45p +1.09%
Fresnillo (FRES) 905.50p +1.00%
3i Group (III) 465.40p +0.82%
Sage Group (SGE) 483.90p +0.81%
Intu Properties (INTU) 370.90p +0.79%
Mondi (MNDI) 1,187.00p +0.76%

FTSE 100 - Fallers
Dixons Carphone (DC.) 406.80p -5.37%
Royal Mail (RMG) 436.70p -3.24%
Intertek Group (ITRK) 2,267.00p -2.75%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,090.50p -2.42%
Wolseley (WOS) 3,877.00p -2.10%
GKN (GKN) 370.00p -2.09%
TUI AG Reg Shs (Post- 16/12/14)(DI) (TUIJ) 1,150.00p -1.79%
Babcock International Group (BAB) 1,016.00p -1.74%
Aviva (AV.) 532.00p -1.57%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 889.50p -1.50%

FTSE 250 - Risers
Zoopla Property Group (WI) (ZPLA) 186.00p +9.73%
Britvic (BVIC) 680.50p +5.34%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 68.95p +4.79%
Crest Nicholson Holdings (CRST) 386.20p +3.73%
Card Factory (CARD) 265.00p +3.39%
PZ Cussons (PZC) 321.10p +3.25%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 403.60p +3.20%
Game Digital (GMD) 263.10p +3.18%
Ashmore Group (ASHM) 289.40p +2.73%
NMC Health (NMC) 490.00p +2.30%

FTSE 250 - Fallers
Afren (AFR) 5.90p -66.61%
Hunting (HTG) 419.10p -5.48%
Serco Group (SRP) 157.00p -4.56%
Ophir Energy (OPHR) 130.20p -4.48%
Aveva Group (AVV) 1,326.00p -3.84%
Premier Oil (PMO) 142.40p -3.00%
FirstGroup (FGP) 102.90p -2.83%
Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 678.50p -2.79%
BBA Aviation (BBA) 347.70p -2.47%
Computacenter (CCC) 638.00p -2.45%