London midday: Stocks extend gains as Euromoney surges on deal news

(Sharecast News) - London stocks had extended gains by midday on Monday, with deal news helping to lift investors' spirits, although sentiment remained fragile amid ongoing concerns about a global recession. The FTSE 100 was up 1% at 7,084.61.

Susannah Streeter, senior investment and markets analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "Investors sense there is trouble ahead for the world economy, given that the priority of the powerful US Federal Reserve is to stamp out the flames of inflation even if that means extinguishing growth.

"Although US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said yesterday a recession is not at all inevitable, she cautioned that the economy would slow, indicating that the price spiral will take time to reverse, given that inflation's causes were global."

In equity markets, Euromoney surged after it confirmed it was in talks with a consortium comprising of private equity firms Astorg Asset Management and Epiris about a possible £1.6bn cash takeover. Responding to media speculation over the weekend, Euromoney said they were in discussions about a possible offer at £14.61 per share. This follows earlier approaches from the consortium at £11.75, £12.50, £13.10 and £13.50 per share.

AB Foods rallied after a well-received trading update, as it said Primark sales in the third quarter were 4% higher than the comparable pre-Covid period three years ago.

On the downside, housebuilders slumped after the latest survey from Rightmove indicated that house prices were likely to start falling in the next five months. Barratt, Berkeley, Persimmon and Taylor Wimpey were all weaker.

Low-cost airline easyJet flew lower after saying it was "consolidating" flights this summer and facing higher-than-expected costs as a result of staff shortages across the industry that has led to travel chaos at most British airports. The company said it expects fourth-quarter capacity to be around 90% of pre-Covid pandemic levels.

Rank Group tumbled after it warned on full-year profits, citing the recent performance in Grosvenor venues and continued inflationary cost pressures across the group. For the year to 30 June, it now expects like-for-like underlying operating profit of around £40m, down from previous guidance of between £47m and £55m.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,084.61 0.97% FTSE 250 (MCX) 18,978.30 0.28% techMARK (TASX) 4,234.70 0.61%

FTSE 100 - Risers

HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 531.10p 4.40% BT Group (BT.A) 187.35p 3.97% Melrose Industries (MRO) 151.30p 3.91% Centrica (CNA) 80.30p 3.69% SSE (SSE) 1,643.00p 3.50% International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 116.36p 3.49% Ocado Group (OCDO) 855.60p 2.96% Informa (INF) 541.80p 2.69% Shell (SHEL) 2,098.50p 2.67% Glencore (GLEN) 472.50p 2.45%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Barratt Developments (BDEV) 454.40p -3.71% Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 3,762.00p -3.32% Persimmon (PSN) 1,878.00p -3.07% Howden Joinery Group (HWDN) 589.00p -3.03% Intermediate Capital Group (ICP) 1,371.50p -2.70% Ashtead Group (AHT) 3,425.00p -2.50% Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 118.10p -2.28% Rio Tinto (RIO) 5,065.00p -2.16% CRH (CDI) (CRH) 2,849.00p -1.94% Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 1,796.50p -1.83%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 1,382.00p 26.33% Carnival (CCL) 725.80p 7.56% Drax Group (DRX) 637.50p 5.90% TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 161.30p 5.63% Auction Technology Group (ATG) 862.00p 4.48% Moonpig Group (MOON) 218.60p 4.10% Frasers Group (FRAS) 630.00p 3.96% Tullow Oil (TLW) 51.90p 3.84% Diversified Energy Company (DEC) 116.00p 3.57% Convatec Group (CTEC) 215.00p 3.56%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Grafton Group Ut (CDI) (GFTU) 777.00p -4.93% Genuit Group (GEN) 390.50p -4.76% Travis Perkins (TPK) 973.80p -4.29% Marshalls (MSLH) 454.00p -3.73% Countryside Partnerships (CSP) 261.20p -3.47% CMC Markets (CMCX) 259.50p -3.17% XP Power Ltd. (DI) (XPP) 3,060.00p -3.16% Vistry Group (VTY) 836.00p -3.02% IntegraFin Holding (IHP) 244.80p -3.01% Ibstock (IBST) 168.80p -2.99%