London midday: Stocks boosted by post-Brexit data

Despite the UK voting to leave the European Union, UK consumer spending picked up in July as people spent their money on clothes, days out and dinners at restaurants. The Visa consumer spending index, calculated by Markit based on credit and debit card usage, found that spending increased 1.6% year-on-year in July, which was the biggest rise in three months, and up from 0.9% in June.

A separate study also showed business confidence has not been as damaged by the Brexit decision as much as had been feared.

The BDO’s business optimism index fell to 97.9 in July from 98.9 the previous month. Business output, a measure of companies’ experience of orders for the three months ahead, came in at 98.2 in July, down from 99.0 in June.

However, BDO said the figures were better than expected, suggesting that the initial impact of Brexit has been less severe than anticipated.

Elsewhere, Chinese exports fell 4.4% in July, more than the 3.5% dip that was estimated. Imports declined 12.5%, exceeding the forecast for a 7% decrease.

At the same time, investors were mulling over Friday’s strong non-farm payrolls report, which has been seen as many as increasing the chances of a rate hike from the Federal Reserve this year.

CMC Markets’ Michael Hewson said: “Certainly the odds have gone up that we could get a move, which suggests that this month’s Jackson Hole Symposium on 26 August is likely to be a key bellwether for the Fed’s appetite for a move higher, or whether the lack of inflation could stay there hand.”

In corporate news, Barclays got a boost after Exane BNP Paribas upgraded the stock to ‘outperform’ from ‘neutral’ as it took a look at UK banks.

Shire was under the cosh as part of a sector-wide decline even as it posted interim numbers that showed total reported product sales up 36% to $3.9bn in the six months to 30 June. Broker Liberum said "some are worried about patent litigation over the next quarter".

Interserve advanced as the support services and construction group was awarded a two-year extension of its contract to provide security services to the BBC worth more than £20m.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 6,795.32 0.03%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 17,609.00 0.82%
techMARK (TASX) 3,506.96 -0.14%

FTSE 100 - Risers

BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,049.50p 3.50%
Barclays (BARC) 156.60p 3.03%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 331.10p 2.95%
Anglo American (AAL) 883.90p 2.79%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 448.50p 2.70%
Prudential (PRU) 1,413.50p 2.61%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 527.00p 2.53%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 2,542.00p 2.31%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 234.80p 2.13%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 403.90p 2.07%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 2,298.00p -4.05%
Shire Plc (SHP) 5,040.00p -2.04%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 4,748.50p -1.72%
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,668.50p -1.53%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 5,150.00p -1.34%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 974.50p -1.27%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 7,346.00p -1.13%
Compass Group (CPG) 1,452.00p -1.02%
Relx plc (REL) 1,417.00p -0.98%
Unilever (ULVR) 3,509.00p -0.92%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Meggitt (MGGT) 444.40p 7.19%
Shawbrook Group (SHAW) 201.70p 6.16%
Vesuvius (VSVS) 387.30p 6.08%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 283.20p 4.81%
Thomas Cook Group (TCG) 62.20p 4.27%
Virgin Money Holdings (UK) (VM.) 282.90p 3.89%
Serco Group (SRP) 133.10p 3.82%
Morgan Advanced Materials (MGAM) 285.20p 3.71%
Crest Nicholson Holdings (CRST) 433.70p 3.61%
Laird (LRD) 333.30p 3.61%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

McCarthy & Stone (MCS) 171.80p -4.45%
Hastings Group Holdings (HSTG) 200.30p -4.16%
Polypipe Group (PLP) 253.90p -2.16%
Hill & Smith Holdings (HILS) 1,120.00p -2.01%
Just Eat (JE.) 567.00p -1.90%
Big Yellow Group (BYG) 731.00p -1.68%
Sophos Group (SOPH) 226.00p -1.61%
Safestore Holdings (SAFE) 363.30p -1.46%
Homeserve (HSV) 573.50p -1.38%
Restaurant Group (RTN) 364.60p -1.27%