London close: Stocks remain red ahead of Fed's symposium

(Sharecast News) - London stocks were off their earlier lows but still weaker by the close on Wednesday, as investors looked to the US Fed's Jackson Hole symposium, due to begin on Thursday. The FTSE 100 ended the session down 0.22% at 7,471.51, and the FTSE 250 was off 0.01% at 19,305.23.

Sterling was also in the red, last trading down 0.36% on the dollar at $1.1793, and weakening 0.24% against the euro to €1.1843.

"Volatility was low in stock markets today, as a bit of bargain hunting pushed up equities in Europe and the US," said Equiti Capital market analyst David Madden.

"Given the relatively small recovery from Tuesday's losses, it appears that buying appetite is not in great supply.

"Dealers remain a little concerned for the health of the global economy."

In cost-of-living news, an industry-proposed plan to protect UK households from eye-watering energy bills was revealed that would need more than £100bn in funding over two years, paid off by taxes or energy customers in the long-term.

Scottish Power chief executive Keith Anderson proposed capping energy bills at £2,000 per year for the typical customer in a meeting with business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng last week, according to the Financial Times.

It said that under the plan, suppliers would meet the shortfall between the bill cap and wholesale prices for gas and electricity by borrowing from a state-arranged "deficit fund".

That fund would be paid off either through tax income, spread over energy bills for up to 15 years, or through a combination of both, the FT said according to people with knowledge of the discussions.

Kwarteng reportedly dismissed the plan on the call with Anderson, apparently reiterating that no decisions would be made until the new prime minister was chosen by Conservative Party members on 5 September.

Across the pond, new orders for long-lasting goods in the US undershot economists' forecasts in July, partly as an expected surge in civilian aircraft orders failed to materialise.

According to preliminary data from the Department of Commerce, durable goods orders were unchanged last month at $273.5bn, against market expectations for a 0.6% improvement.

Helping to offset the shortfall, the rise in total orders for June was revised higher by 20 basis points, to 2.2%, while excluding transportation, orders increased by 0.3%, beating the consensus for growth of 0.1%.

"The most important number in the report, nondefense capital goods orders ex-aircraft, rose a modest 0.4%, but the May and June orders were revised up, by a total of 0.4%," noted Ian Shepherdson at Pantheon Macroeconomics.

"The trend is still rising at a decent pace, though it has slowed since the turn of the year."

Still stateside, pending home sales were down 1% in July, beating consensus forecasts for a fall of 2.8%, according to the National Association of Realtors.

The new data meant pending sales were now 27% below their most recent peak in October, as demand for mortgages falls as interest rates rise.

"Mortgage demand appears to be stabilising now that rates are no longer rising - our August estimate based on the available weekly data is broadly unchanged," explained Pantheon's Ian Shepherdson.

"Accordingly, home sales will likely reach a floor before the end of the year, but no recovery is in sight."

On London's equity markets, corporate news was thin on the ground as the usual summer lull finally kicked in, after several weeks of constant corporate updates.

Flexible workspace provider IWG was 0.16% weaker, after announcing the appointment of Charlie Steel as chief financial officer, succeeding Glyn Hughes.

Steel would join the board before the end of the year, while Hughes would remain with the business for a transitional period to ensure a smooth handover.

On the upside, Aveva Group jumped 26.87% after Schneider Electric confirmed that it was mulling a bid for the 41% of the IT consultancy which it did not already own.

FTSE 250 constituent Softcat was also higher on the news, rising 3.17% by the close.

Premier Inn owner Whitbread reversed earlier losses to close up 0.47%, after reporting it had bought a prime freehold property on the Strand in central London, just off Trafalgar Square, for more than £200m.

Subject to planning, 5 Strand would become the newest 'hub by Premier Inn' compact-room hotel in the estate, and was expected to open in 2027.

Outside the FTSE 350, car dealership Lookers jumped 11.2%, despite reporting a dip in interim profit as supply disruption made trading conditions challenging.

In the six months to the end of June, pre-tax profit nudged down to £49.9m from £50.4m in the same period a year earlier, with revenues up 3.6% at £2.23bn.

Reporting by Josh White at Sharecast.com. Additional reporting by Michele Maatouk and Alexander Bueso.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,471.51 -0.22% FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,305.23 -0.01% techMARK (TASX) 4,300.18 1.59%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Aveva Group (AVV) 2,781.00p 26.87% Pershing Square Holdings Ltd NPV (PSH) 2,750.00p 3.97% Bunzl (BNZL) 3,144.00p 2.62% Dechra Pharmaceuticals (DPH) 3,498.00p 2.34% Melrose Industries (MRO) 141.80p 2.27% Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 827.60p 2.25% Spirax-Sarco Engineering (SPX) 10,790.00p 1.89% Harbour Energy (HBR) 430.50p 1.58% Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 2,056.00p 1.53% Informa (INF) 548.60p 1.47%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Centrica (CNA) 82.10p -2.66% Prudential (PRU) 930.00p -2.50% Land Securities Group (LAND) 666.00p -2.49% Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 209.80p -2.46% British Land Company (BLND) 435.90p -2.46% Tesco (TSCO) 259.40p -2.44% Persimmon (PSN) 1,544.00p -2.43% Rio Tinto (RIO) 4,931.50p -2.25% Anglo American (AAL) 2,879.00p -2.19% BT Group (BT.A) 153.70p -2.16%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Baltic Classifieds Group (BCG) 138.60p 6.62% 4Imprint Group (FOUR) 3,920.00p 5.80% Network International Holdings (NETW) 234.40p 4.27% Carnival (CCL) 744.80p 3.91% NB Private Equity Partners Ltd. (NBPE) 1,580.00p 3.61% Softcat (SCT) 1,301.00p 3.17% Spirent Communications (SPT) 266.00p 2.62% Oxford Instruments (OXIG) 2,045.00p 2.35% Blackrock Throgmorton Trust (THRG) 579.00p 2.30% Kainos Group (KNOS) 1,361.00p 2.18%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 451.80p -6.70% Provident Financial (PFG) 178.90p -4.54% Hays (HAS) 114.80p -4.33% Just Group (JUST) 69.65p -4.06% Chrysalis Investments Limited NPV (CHRY) 79.50p -3.52% Marshalls (MSLH) 341.80p -3.23% XP Power Ltd. (DI) (XPP) 2,040.00p -3.09% Hill & Smith Holdings (HILS) 1,072.00p -3.07% Trainline (TRN) 340.20p -3.05% Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 119.30p -3.01%