London midday: Stocks stay down ahead of US inflation figures

The FTSE 100 was down 0.5% at 7,582.49.

Danni Hewson, financial analyst at AJ Bell, said: "Another day, another decline for key equity indices. European stocks were in the doldrums as investors fretted about inflation, politics, consumer spending and more.

"Corporate news flow is picking up which is giving investors a reason to want to trade the markets, but mixed messages from these businesses is making it hard to call which way equities will move next.

"Mining and oil stocks enjoyed a small rally amid a pick-up in commodity prices once again. Brent Crude moved back above $100 a barrel."

On home shores, the latest data from the Office for National Statistics showed that real pay for workers fell for the second month running as wage rises were more than offset by rising inflation. Regular pay, excluding bonuses, rose 4% in the three months to February. The ONS said pay adjusted for inflation fell 1%. Including bonuses, real pay rose 0.4%.

The figures show incomes being squeezed by rising prices before a further increase that took inflation to 6.2% in March from 5.5% in February. The Bank of England expects inflation to peak at 8% or higher in 2022 and household budgets are also under pressure from tax increases.

Real pay fell despite rising employment. The ONS's labour force survey measure of employment rose by 10,000 in the three months to February but the increase was less than the 52,000 analysts expected on average. The headline three-month average unemployment rate dipped to 3.8% from 3.9% a month earlier in line with expectations.

Investors were also eyeing the latest US inflation data due later in the day. Danske Bank said consumer price inflation is expected to have risen above 8% in March, mainly due to a jump in commodity prices.

In equity markets, engine maker Rolls-Royce tumbled after JPMorgan Cazenove downgraded the shares to ‘underweight’ from ‘neutral’ and slashed the price target to 75p from 140p.

LSE was under the cosh after a downgrade to ‘neutral’ at Exane, while Investec was knocked lower by a downgrade at Goldman Sachs.

On the upside, BP was the standout performer on the FTSE 100, closely followed by Shell, as oil prices rose, while miners Rio, Glencore and Antofagasta also racked up healthy gains.

Electrocomponents rose after it reported a 26% jump in group like-for-like revenue for the year ended 31 March.

Diploma rallied after the specialist seals and controls maker said full-year results were expected to "materially exceed" expectations after a strong contribution from acquisitions.

Plus500 gained after the online trading platform said full-year revenue was set to be ahead of current market expectations as it posted a 68% jump in first-quarter revenues.

Moneysupermarket advanced after it posted a jump in first-quarter revenue and reiterated full-year guidance.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,582.49 -0.47%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,944.76 -0.81%
techMARK (TASX) 4,387.63 -0.52%

FTSE 100 - Risers

BP (BP.) 397.80p 2.88%
Airtel Africa (AAF) 146.50p 1.60%
Electrocomponents (ECM) 1,023.00p 1.49%
Shell (SHEL) 2,166.25p 1.46%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 6,158.00p 1.45%
Glencore (GLEN) 527.70p 1.40%
Rightmove (RMV) 643.60p 1.32%
Endeavour Mining (EDV) 2,010.00p 1.26%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,682.50p 1.17%
Rentokil Initial (RTO) 529.80p 1.07%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 90.36p -4.88%
London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) 8,066.00p -4.09%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 1,202.00p -2.91%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 10,550.00p -2.84%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 244.20p -2.75%
Admiral Group (ADM) 2,482.00p -2.13%
Tesco (TSCO) 269.40p -2.11%
Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 1,557.00p -1.98%
SSE (SSE) 1,761.50p -1.95%
HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 523.00p -1.93%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Diploma (DPLM) 2,742.00p 9.16%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 59.85p 5.28%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 183.30p 5.10%
Plus500 Ltd (DI) (PLUS) 1,546.00p 4.53%
Moneysupermarket.com Group (MONY) 179.40p 3.70%
Liontrust Asset Management (LIO) 1,278.00p 2.57%
Trustpilot Group (TRST) 154.00p 2.19%
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 1,906.50p 2.12%
Trainline (TRN) 282.40p 1.69%
Renishaw (RSW) 3,810.00p 1.60%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Investec (INVP) 506.80p -5.59%
Hammerson (HMSO) 31.77p -5.36%
PureTech Health (PRTC) 190.40p -4.80%
Auction Technology Group (ATG) 978.00p -4.49%
Rathbone Group (RAT) 2,115.00p -3.86%
Greencore Group (CDI) (GNC) 123.20p -3.75%
Polymetal International (POLY) 264.90p -3.71%
Hiscox Limited (DI) (HSX) 947.60p -3.52%
JPMorgan Japanese Inv Trust (JFJ) 475.50p -3.35%
Beazley (BEZ) 404.20p -3.21%