London midday: Stocks maintain gains as Johnson faces no confidence vote

The FTSE 100 was up 1.2% at 7,621.58, while sterling was 0.5% higher against the dollar 1.2555 as it emerged that Conservative MPs will hold a vote of no confidence in Johnson later in the day.

The vote will take between 6pm and 8pm, said MP Graham Brady, who chairs the Conservative Party's obscure 1922 committee, which consists of all backbench lawmakers.

Johnson has come under increasing pressure after breaking Covid rules on gatherings and became the first prime minister to be found guilty of an offence while in office when he received a fine for illegally attending a party during pandemic restrictions.

Brady said he told Johnson on Sunday that the 15% threshold had been reached when at least 54 MPs submitted letters of no confidence in the PM.

Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor, said UK equity markets had taken their cue from the more buoyant moves within Asian markets after an extended Jubilee holiday weekend.

"The FTSE 100 opened comfortably ahead, leaving it ahead by 2.9% in the year to date. Given the constituents of the index, the renewed strength of the oil price will have had an impact, but the gains were broadly based as the UK continues to be given serious consideration as the investment destination of choice in the current global environment," he said.

In equity markets, oil giants BP and Shell gushed higher as oil prices rose, with Brent crude pushing above $120 a barrel to its highest level in three months.

Susannah Streeter, senior investment and markets analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "The latest trigger to push up prices appears to have been Saudi Arabia’s decision to increase prices for its crude sales next month, despite the pledge by OPEC the oil cartel to increase production by 50% in July and August.

"With Western powers sending long range missiles to Ukraine, it underlines the entrenched state of the war which is adding to supply concerns in the market, particularly given the compromise deal which has been reached by the EU on a Russian oil embargo.

"Demand energy is expected to rebound in China with more Covid restrictions being lifted particularly in Beijing, and although a dramatic snap back in economic growth isn’t forecast, the recovery from lockdowns is likely to fuel worries about whether there will be enough oil supplies to meet appetite in the world economy."

Miners also gained as metals prices advanced, with Glencore, Antofagasta and Anglo American all up.

Asia-focused insurer Prudential was the best performer on the top-flight index, however, likely due to the end of Covid restrictions in China.

Melrose Industries advanced after saying it had sold its Ergotron business to funds managed by The Sterling Group for $650m (£520m) in cash.

Building materials group CRH was also on the front foot after agreeing to buy North American fencing and railing solutions provider Barrette in a $1.9bn deal.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,621.58 1.18%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,491.39 1.08%
techMARK (TASX) 4,404.98 0.49%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Prudential (PRU) 1,063.00p 4.42%
Endeavour Mining (EDV) 1,871.00p 3.71%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 138.20p 3.60%
Intermediate Capital Group (ICP) 1,594.00p 3.47%
SSE (SSE) 1,821.00p 3.44%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 91.73p 3.38%
Persimmon (PSN) 2,257.00p 3.30%
Informa (INF) 554.20p 3.13%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 4,134.00p 3.07%
Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 1,755.00p 3.05%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Bunzl (BNZL) 2,763.00p -1.71%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 10,270.00p -1.65%
BT Group (BT.A) 185.15p -1.31%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 626.00p -1.07%
Dechra Pharmaceuticals (DPH) 3,530.00p -1.07%
Vodafone Group (VOD) 125.52p -0.93%
Aveva Group (AVV) 2,207.00p -0.36%
Next (NXT) 6,450.00p -0.19%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 3,534.00p -0.07%
Meggitt (MGGT) 774.60p -0.05%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Greencore Group (CDI) (GNC) 120.30p 9.66%
Baltic Classifieds Group (BCG) 156.40p 8.46%
Trustpilot Group (TRST) 99.00p 7.08%
Wood Group (John) (WG.) 236.20p 5.73%
PureTech Health (PRTC) 184.20p 5.26%
Carnival (CCL) 1,013.50p 4.59%
Bridgepoint Group (Reg S) (BPT) 331.40p 4.54%
Dr. Martens (DOCS) 270.00p 4.33%
Just Group (JUST) 83.05p 3.81%
Helios Towers (HTWS) 122.30p 3.64%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Grainger (GRI) 303.80p -2.88%
Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 2,785.00p -2.42%
Safestore Holdings (SAFE) 1,100.00p -1.61%
Indivior (INDV) 326.80p -1.51%
Big Yellow Group (BYG) 1,299.00p -1.22%
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 2,080.00p -0.95%
Templeton Emerging Markets Inv Trust (TEM) 152.60p -0.91%
easyJet (EZJ) 503.20p -0.83%
SSP Group (SSPG) 267.50p -0.78%
Virgin Money UK (VMUK) 146.00p -0.75%