London midday: Stocks stay firm as housebuilders rally

(Sharecast News) - London stocks were still firmly in the black by midday on Tuesday following a positive Asian session, with housebuilders pacing the gains. The FTSE 100 was up 1.4% at 7,443.26.

Asian markets rallied for a second day in a row, after China unveiled strategic measures to boost its stock markets, such as a cut in stamp duty and the loosening of margin loan rules.

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: "The market may have been underwhelmed by China's initial efforts to restore confidence, but that doesn't seem to be the case with the latest measures, which have given Chinese and global stocks a real boost.

"Whether the medicine Beijing is doling out will deal with the causes rather than just the symptoms of its economic challenges is debatable, but for the time being it is at least doing enough to restore sentiment.

"The lack of any big shocks in US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell's Jackson Hole speech also seems to have helped create the conditions for a late summer rally."

On home shores, investors were digesting the latest data from the British Retail Consortium/NielsenIQ, which showed that annual shop price inflation eased to 6.9% in August from 7.6% in July. Meanwhile, food inflation fell to 11.5% from 13.4%.

BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson said: "Better news for consumers as shop price inflation in August eased to its lowest level since October 2022. This was driven by falling food inflation, particularly for products such as meat, potatoes and some cooking oils. These figures would have been lower still had the Government not increased alcohol duties earlier this month."

In equity markets, housebuilders were on the rise following reports that Michael Gove will ease planning rules. Persimmon, Barratt, Taylor Wimpey, Crest Nicholson and Vistry all advanced.

Distribution specialist Bunzl rose sharply after it upgraded guidance for annual adjusted operating profits as it reported a rise in half-year earnings. "We now expect adjusted operating profit to be moderately higher than in 2022 at constant exchange rates, with operating margin remaining strong and moderately higher than that achieved in the prior year," it said.

Drinks company Britvic was boosted by an upgrade to 'overweight' at Barclays.

The bank said: "In the wake of Covid and inflation disruption to the implementation of Britvic's new growth strategy, we now see headwinds clearing and identify multiple top-line and margin drivers that can deliver accelerated growth."

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,443.26 1.43% FTSE 250 (MCX) 18,358.08 1.25% techMARK (TASX) 4,277.98 1.15%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Persimmon (PSN) 1,025.50p 3.90% Smurfit Kappa Group (CDI) (SKG) 3,268.00p 3.81% Smith (DS) (SMDS) 304.10p 3.72% Ocado Group (OCDO) 768.80p 3.64% Prudential (PRU) 979.60p 3.46% Barratt Developments (BDEV) 445.90p 3.39% Barclays (BARC) 148.52p 3.15% Airtel Africa (AAF) 114.30p 3.07% Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 1,590.00p 3.05% Bunzl (BNZL) 2,805.00p 2.97%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 564.20p -0.53% Haleon (HLN) 327.80p 0.02% London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) 8,208.00p 0.32% Beazley (BEZ) 543.00p 0.37% National Grid (NG.) 981.80p 0.41% Land Securities Group (LAND) 588.60p 0.41% Pershing Square Holdings Ltd NPV (PSH) 3,006.00p 0.47% Admiral Group (ADM) 2,403.00p 0.54% Compass Group (CPG) 2,032.00p 0.64% Flutter Entertainment (CDI) (FLTR) 14,195.00p 0.75%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Crest Nicholson Holdings (CRST) 180.50p 6.18% Quilter (QLT) 86.65p 5.99% Watches of Switzerland Group (WOSG) 575.00p 4.83% Vistry Group (VTY) 760.00p 4.83% Mobico Group (MCG) 78.25p 3.78% Synthomer (SYNT) 65.95p 3.78% Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 2,239.00p 3.75% Spire Healthcare Group (SPI) 221.50p 3.75% Bridgepoint Group (Reg S) (BPT) 174.40p 3.69% Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 350.00p 3.55%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Ferrexpo (FXPO) 75.50p -1.24% Games Workshop Group (GAW) 10,510.00p -1.04% Drax Group (DRX) 555.00p -0.82% Carnival (CCL) 1,113.50p -0.76% Hill and Smith (HILS) 1,754.00p -0.68% Energean (ENOG) 1,114.00p -0.62% Bakkavor Group (BAKK) 96.40p -0.62% Foresight Solar Fund Limited (FSFL) 91.20p -0.55% British Land Company (BLND) 312.30p -0.51% Capital Gearing Trust (CGT) 4,500.00p -0.33%