London midday: Stocks fall as relief over US presidential debate fades
UK equities pared gains on Tuesday as relief faded over Hillary Clinton’s apparent win over Donald Trump in the first US presidential debate.
Markets seemed to declare Clinton the winner of the presidential debate on Monday as she went on the offensive against Trump, mentioning his controversial comments towards women and attacking the non-release of his tax returns.
Stocks initially rose following the debate but have since snapped back as several polls showed a mixed response to the event. A CNN/ORC poll put Clinton at 62% to Trump's 27%, but surveys published by CNBC and TIME magazine show Trump with comfortable leads of 61%/39% and 59%/41%, respectively.
Meanwhile, oil prices also reversed an earlier rally as hopes of a production deal to curb the global supply glut were dashed on Tuesday after Saudi Arabia said the informal OPEC meeting in Algeria was one of consultation and Iran’s oil minister said it was not the right time for OPEC to make a decision.
“This development should be no surprise as OPEC is notorious for inflating expectations of a freeze deal before leaving investors empty handed,” said FXTM research analyst Lukman Otunuga.
“With the excessive oversupply of oil in the markets still a dominant theme, West Texas Intermediate could be exposed to steeper losses if the informal meeting concludes with no changes.”
Brent crude fell 1.4% to $46.68 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate dropped 1.3% to $45.30 per barrel at 1130 BST.
In corporate news, Wolseley's shares fell as the plumbing and heating supplier announced plans to close 80 UK branches and cut 800 jobs, even as it reported an increase in revenue and profits for the full year.
United Utilities gained after saying it expects underlying operating profit for the first half to be marginally higher than the same period last year, although revenues are forecast to be slightly lower.
Sky got a boost as Kepler Cheuvreux upgraded the stock to ‘buy’ from ‘hold’ saying its discounted cash flow-based fair value of 1,100p suggests nearly 30% upside from current levels, which is the highest in its large-cap media universe.
Card Factory rallied after it announced a special dividend and reported a rise in revenue and profit for the six months to the end of July.
Pharmaceutical company Indivior advanced as it rebuffed a joint civil complaint by a number of states in the US over its conduct with the Suboxone product.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 6,800.15 -0.26%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 17,570.25 -0.86%
techMARK (TASX) 3,464.84 -0.60%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Carnival (CCL) 3,670.00p 3.23%
Sky (SKY) 847.50p 1.56%
Pearson (PSON) 735.50p 1.31%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 996.50p 1.06%
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,807.00p 0.95%
Unilever (ULVR) 3,632.50p 0.92%
SSE (SSE) 1,542.00p 0.92%
Severn Trent (SVT) 2,482.00p 0.77%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 4,922.50p 0.77%
HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 573.40p 0.74%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Wolseley (WOS) 4,109.00p -4.44%
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 171.50p -3.38%
Travis Perkins (TPK) 1,486.00p -2.11%
Tesco (TSCO) 172.75p -2.10%
Capita (CPI) 951.50p -1.96%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 613.60p -1.93%
London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) 2,790.00p -1.90%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 387.40p -1.80%
Smiths Group (SMIN) 1,379.00p -1.71%
Standard Life (SL.) 336.70p -1.64%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Softcat (SCT) 329.80p 2.87%
Card Factory (CARD) 308.00p 1.95%
DFS Furniture (DFS) 255.20p 1.79%
CYBG (CYBG) 254.60p 1.43%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 150.90p 1.21%
Indivior (INDV) 311.90p 1.17%
Bankers Inv Trust (BNKR) 665.50p 0.99%
Worldwide Healthcare Trust (WWH) 2,151.00p 0.89%
Riverstone Energy Limited (RSE) 1,084.00p 0.84%
Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 1,105.00p 0.82%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Sports Direct International (SPD) 273.10p -4.01%
Aveva Group (AVV) 1,891.00p -3.77%
Grafton Group Units (GFTU) 463.10p -3.32%
AO World (AO.) 158.20p -3.18%
Paragon Group Of Companies (PAG) 300.00p -3.16%
Inchcape (INCH) 637.00p -3.12%
Saga (SAGA) 211.90p -3.11%
Hunting (HTG) 418.20p -2.97%
Brown (N.) Group (BWNG) 179.40p -2.92%
IP Group (IPO) 167.50p -2.84%