London midday: Stocks fall as Croda tanks on profit warning

(Sharecast News) - London stocks had fallen into the red by midday, with Croda under the cosh after a profit warning, as investors eyed US inflation data and the latest policy announcement from the Federal Reserve next week. The FTSE 100 was down 0.4% at 7,573.43.

Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor, said "The news from across the pond next week will potentially bring a fresh sense of direction and clarity on current central bank thinking, and with the premier index having a large bias to overseas stocks and the US in particular, any reverberations will be felt domestically.

"The FTSE 100 remains some way off the record highs achieved in February and has now added just 2.2% in the year to date, although this could bring some renewed interest in the blue chip index, if only on valuation grounds where the UK is seen as cheap compared to many of its international peers."

Interest rate decisions are due next week not just from the Fed, but also from the European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan.

On the macro front, investors were mulling the latest data out of China, which showed consumer price inflation rose 0.2% on the year in May, up from 0.1% in April, and versus expectations of a 0.3% increase.

Meanwhile, producer price inflation fell 4.6% in May following a 3.6% decline in April and versus expectations of a 4.3% drop. This marked the sharpest fall in more than seven years.

In equity markets, Croda International tumbled as it warned on full-year profits, citing lower sales volumes and customer destocking. It now expects 2023 group pre-tax profit of between £370m and £400m, versus consensus expectations of £440m.

CMC Markets was weaker after announcing the acquisition of a 33% stake in StrikeX Technologies, a customer centric blockchain solutions business. It did not provide any financial details.

On the upside, payments provider Network International surged after agreeing to be taken over by Canada's Brookfield Asset Management in a £2.2bn deal.

Discount retailer B&M European Value Retail was lifted by an upgrade to 'buy' at Stifel, while Hammerson was boosted by a double upgrade to 'overweight' at Barclays.

Outside the FTSE 350, Amigo Holdings gained after saying it has granted a shareholder an exclusivity agreement to pursue financing options for the business.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,573.43 -0.35% FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,038.07 -0.36% techMARK (TASX) 4,553.44 -0.17%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Ocado Group (OCDO) 374.00p 2.05% B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 538.00p 1.20% Vodafone Group (VOD) 75.04p 1.20% Ashtead Group (AHT) 5,382.00p 0.98% British American Tobacco (BATS) 2,605.00p 0.91% Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 864.80p 0.84% National Grid (NG.) 1,056.00p 0.57% NATWEST GROUP (NWG) 262.30p 0.50% Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 689.40p 0.50% Rio Tinto (RIO) 5,152.00p 0.49%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Croda International (CRDA) 5,256.00p -12.75% Beazley (BEZ) 581.50p -2.27% Smurfit Kappa Group (CDI) (SKG) 2,918.00p -2.15% Smith (DS) (SMDS) 311.80p -1.48% Reckitt Benckiser Group (RKT) 6,026.00p -1.44% JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 149.00p -1.32% Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 113.85p -1.26% Associated British Foods (ABF) 1,852.00p -1.25% Kingfisher (KGF) 237.70p -1.25% London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) 8,632.00p -1.24%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Network International Holdings (NETW) 383.60p 5.73% Ithaca Energy (ITH) 149.60p 2.47% Hammerson (HMSO) 26.64p 2.30% Harbour Energy (HBR) 251.40p 2.15% Investec (INVP) 467.40p 1.87% Ninety One (N91) 176.60p 1.55% Drax Group (DRX) 553.60p 1.54% Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 1,860.50p 1.20% FirstGroup (FGP) 136.70p 1.11% Bakkavor Group (BAKK) 96.00p 1.05%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Trainline (TRN) 258.40p -5.28% Synthomer (SYNT) 89.60p -4.07% Lancashire Holdings Limited (LRE) 595.50p -3.72% Chemring Group (CHG) 291.00p -3.00% Wetherspoon (J.D.) (JDW) 716.50p -2.98% Vanquis Banking Group 20 (VANQ) 215.50p -2.93% Clarkson (CKN) 3,010.00p -2.90% Essentra (ESNT) 180.00p -2.49% CMC Markets (CMCX) 171.00p -2.40% ASOS (ASC) 335.00p -2.36%