London close: Stocks manage gains on quiet Monday

(Sharecast News) - London stocks managed a positive finish on Monday amid quiet trade, with US markets closed for Presidents' Day and little in the way of corporate news to provide direction. The FTSE 100 ended the session up 0.12% at 8,014.31, and the FTSE 250 was ahead 0.05% at 20,098.41.

Sterling was meanwhile in a mixed state, and was last down 0.02% against the dollar at $1.2034, while it gained 0.04% on the euro to trade at €1.1262.

"Earlier gains for European indices have been chipped away this afternoon, as concerns about interest rates and the ongoing Ukraine conflict sapped risk appetite," said IG chief market analyst Chris Beauchamp.

"The past month has seen a dramatic repricing of expectations around interest rates."

Beauchamp said that markets had previously seemed "cautiously optimistic" that the end of the surge to tighten rates was upon us.

"Stronger data from various quarters has reversed that view entirely."

In economic news, UK house prices were flat in February according to the latest survey from property website Rightmove.

Prices were steady on the month at £362,452 - up by just £14 - having risen 0.9% in January.

It marked the smallest ever increase from January to February, with Rightmove saying it could be a sign that more sellers were "heeding their agents' advice to price right first time".

On the year, house prices grew 3.9% in February following a 6.3% jump the month before.

Rightmove said the number of sales being agreed suggests a "softer landing" for the market than many expected.

"The big question this month was whether we would see new sellers increasing their asking prices as has been the yearly norm as we approach the spring selling season," said Tim Bannister, Rightmove's director of property science.

"This month's flat average asking price indicates that many sellers are breaking with tradition and showing unseasonal initial pricing restraint.

"In addition to market conditions demanding greater realism on price, we are transitioning into a slower paced market, where buyers will take longer to find the right property at the right price due to the higher cost of servicing a mortgage."

Bannister said there were other indicators that it would be a softer, rather than a hard, transition, despite turbulence at the end of 2022.

"Homeowners who are coming to market in the upcoming spring season should use their agent's expertise and get the price right the first time, which can really help to find the right buyer more quickly."

Elsewhere, almost 15,000 jobs had been lost in retail so far this year in the UK, according to industry research published earlier.

Analysis by the Centre for Retail Research found a total of 14,874 retail jobs had been cut in 2023 across the UK at large multiple retailers, defined as having 10 or more stores.

A total of 3,185 jobs were lost because retailers were undergoing some form of insolvency proceedings, while a further 11,689 were being axed as part of cost-cutting programmes.

A total of 675 stores had closed or were in the process of closing this year, the CRR noted, including shops owned by Tile Giant, fashion chain M&Co and Paperchase, all of which had filed for administration in recent weeks.

CRR director Joshua Bamfield described it as a "brutal" start to the year.

"The process of rationalisation will continue at pace as retailers continue to reduce their cost base," he said.

"We are unlikely to see any respite in job losses in 2023."

On the continent, consumer confidence in the eurozone improved for a fifth month in a row in February according to fresh data, but remained well below its long-term average.

The European Commission's consumer confidence index for the euro area rose by 1.9 points from the month before to -19.0, in line with economists' expectations.

A separate index for the whole of the European Union meanwhile improved by 1.5 points to -20.6.

Eurozone construction output fell in December, however, mainly due to a sharp slump in Germany according to Eurostat.

Construction production declined 2.5% on the month following a revised 0.1% drop in November.

The figures showed that Germany suffered the biggest monthly fall in construction output, at 8%, followed by Austria at 7.6% and Poland at 3.8%.

Staying in Europe, the outlook for the German economy had brightened slightly according to the Bundesbank, after energy prices eased.

Publishing its latest monthly report, Germany's central bank said the economic outlook was "somewhat brighter".

Economic output is still expected to decline "slightly" during the year, it noted, but was likely to now perform "a little better" than expected at the end of 2022.

In its December report, the bank forecast the economy would contract by 0.5% in 2023.

Finally on the economic front, the People's Bank of China left its one-year loan prime rate unchanged for February at 3.65% overnight.

It also left its five-year loan prime rate, a reference for mortgages, unchanged at 4.30%, widely in line with expectations.

The PBoC last week left its medium-term lending facility loans rate unchanged at 2.75% while injecting more liquidity into the banking system as corporate loan demand recovers.

On London's equity markets, retailer Frasers Group rallied 3.31% after saying it was starting an £80m share buyback.

Frasers, controlled by Mike Ashley and owner of Sports Direct, said the repurchase would be used to reduce the company's share capital, adding that it would run until 30 April.

Cyber security firm Darktrace gained 2.84% after saying it has appointed EY to provide an additional independent third-party review of its key financial processes and controls following recent short-seller attacks.

Banks were in the black, with Lloyds Banking Group up 1.18% and Barclays ahead 1.44%, while miners also performed well, with Anglo American and Rio Tinto Group rising a respective 3.99% and 2.97%.

On the downside, DS Smith slumped 4.5% after a rating downgrade at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

The bank said it expected the group to see much lower box volumes in the third quarter and for prices to fall in 2024.

It also pointed to higher energy and labour costs.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com. Additional reporting by Michele Maatouk, Frank Prenesti, Abigail Townsend and Alexander Bueso.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 8,014.31 0.12% FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,098.41 0.05% techMARK (TASX) 4,646.12 -0.12%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Anglo American (AAL) 3,337.50p 3.99% Frasers Group (FRAS) 795.50p 3.38% Rio Tinto (RIO) 6,277.00p 2.85% Persimmon (PSN) 1,467.00p 2.16% Melrose Industries (MRO) 146.65p 2.09% Glencore (GLEN) 519.70p 1.96% Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 868.80p 1.94% Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 122.35p 1.79% Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,761.00p 1.70% Schroders (SDR) 506.80p 1.54%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Smith (DS) (SMDS) 337.30p -4.92% International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 163.04p -2.51% Airtel Africa (AAF) 126.20p -2.18% SEGRO (SGRO) 852.40p -1.92% Reckitt Benckiser Group (RKT) 5,698.00p -1.35% Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 2,083.00p -1.28% Centrica (CNA) 103.85p -1.14% Unite Group (UTG) 983.00p -1.11% Mondi (MNDI) 1,478.00p -1.10% Smurfit Kappa Group (CDI) (SKG) 3,202.00p -1.08%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Wood Group (John) (WG.) 152.00p 5.48% Hilton Food Group (HFG) 711.00p 4.56% Senior (SNR) 156.60p 3.71% Wetherspoon (J.D.) (JDW) 532.50p 3.56% Darktrace (DARK) 272.10p 3.54% Synthomer (SYNT) 157.20p 3.15% International Distributions Services (IDS) 234.60p 3.08% Jupiter Fund Management (JUP) 143.60p 2.79% Herald Investment Trust (HRI) 1,942.00p 2.32% Spire Healthcare Group (SPI) 240.00p 2.13%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Indivior (INDV) 1,582.00p -6.11% Moonpig Group (MOON) 113.90p -4.21% Spectris (SXS) 3,116.00p -3.71% Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 2,677.00p -3.71% Plus500 Ltd (DI) (PLUS) 1,853.00p -3.54% Bank of Georgia Group (BGEO) 2,785.00p -3.47% easyJet (EZJ) 491.60p -2.88% CLS Holdings (CLI) 151.80p -2.69% Hammerson (HMSO) 29.71p -2.59% SSP Group (SSPG) 260.80p -2.32%