London midday: Stocks stay down but housebuilders a bright spot

(Sharecast News) - London stocks were still in the red by midday on Wednesday after disappointing results from First Republic sent shares on Wall Street sliding, but losses were capped by strength in the housebuilding sector and well-received results from Microsoft and Alphabet. The FTSE 100 was down 0.3% at 7,868.81.

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: "Microsoft and Alphabet, two firms whose fates feel increasingly intertwined thanks to their competing AI search offerings, both demonstrated some resilience as their earnings came in ahead of forecasts.

"Microsoft's cloud computing arm saw a better-than-expected growth rate of 16%, helping to dispel fears about a slowdown in spending as economic realities bite. Talk of 'healthy growth' for the current quarter was like a vitamin pill for shareholders and helped the shares to big gains in after-hours trading.

"Google's search advertising business also returned to growth despite the difficult backdrop, speaking to the continuing importance of the platform to advertisers.

"The problems at First Republic Bank have undoubtedly reopened the sores from March, as investors fret about the financial system again, and while the big US banks largely impressed at the start of this earnings season, numbers from regional lenders across the pond look set to be under heavy scrutiny in the coming days and weeks."

In equity markets, Primark owner AB Foods was under pressure again after disappointing results a day earlier.

Consumer goods giant Reckitt Benckiser fell as it announced the appointment of a new chief executive and posted a rise in first-quarter sales amid price hikes.

Bunzl retreated despite saying it expects annual revenue and operating margin to be slightly ahead of forecasts as it reported a rise in first-quarter sales of 8.4%.

Building materials company CRH also lost ground despite reporting a "positive" start to the year, with first-quarter sales and EBITDA ahead of the previous year amid good demand.

GSK edged lower as it said first quarter profits and revenue both beat expectations, driven by its shingles and meningitis treatments, among others.

On the upside, housebuilders were the top performers on the FTSE 100 after well-received results from Persimmon, which posted a slump in first-quarter completions but said it expects full-year 2023 volumes to be towards the top end of guidance following an improvement in sales rates since the start of the year. Peers followed suit, with Taylor Wimpey and Barratt also trading up.

Standard Chartered pushed higher after it posted better-than-expected first-quarter profits, driven by higher interest rates and forecast annual earnings at the top end of guidance.

Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "Given the turmoil we've seen in the banking sector over recent weeks, even in the last 24 hours with First Republic's woes so front of minds, it's a breath of fresh air to see Standard Chartered surpass earnings expectations and post a pretty upbeat outlook.

"Higher interest rates continue to act as a headwind for profits, but arguably more important in the current climate was the robust customer deposit numbers and a credit impairment charge of just $26m, well below market expectations. This was a resilient set of results that should help to quell some of the fears that issues are systemic throughout the sector."

Harbour Energy was up after it reported an oil discovery from the Kan-1 exploration well off Mexico, in which it has a 30% interest.

Drax powered ahead after it launched a £150m share buyback and said it was suspending carbon capture projects pending further talks with the government on subsidies. It also said it expects full-year adjusted core earnings to be in line with analysts' consensus estimates.