London midday: Stocks mixed after soft PMI data

(Sharecast News) - London stocks were trading on a mixed note following a lacklustre close on Wall Street at the end of the previous week and week survey results. At 1253 BST, the FTSE 100 was trading 15.43 points lower at 7,648.07, although the second-tier index was edging up 0.01% to 19,203.8.

In parallel, the yield on the benchmark 10-year UK government bond was down by eight basis points to 4.196%.

Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Bank, said last week ended on a cautious note after the first earnings from Big Tech companies were "not bad, but not good enough" to further boost an already-impressive rally so far this year.

"This week, the earnings season continues in full swing - 150 S&P 500 companies are due to announce their second quarter earnings throughout this week," she said.

On the economic side of things, purchasing managers' surveys showed that factory and services sector activity in the euro area softened by more than expected in July, as weakness in manufacturing spread.

It was a similar story in the UK.

The S&P Global/CIPS 'flash' Composite Output Index for the UK plumbed a six-month low of 50.7 and was down from a June reading of 52.8.

US PMIs would follow at 1445 BST.

On the central bank front, the Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan are all set to meet this week, with the first two widely expected to announce 25-basis point hikes each.

In equities, telecoms giant Vodafone was in focus as it said first-quarter group service revenue rose 3.7%, helped by its UK operations.

The company reported that revenue for the period came in at €10.7bn, up from €9.5bn a year earlier.

The company added that it had appointed former SAP chief financial officer Luka Mucic to the same role at Vodafone, starting on 1 September.

S4 Capital cut its targets for full-year revenues and profits due to the challenging macroeconomic conditions, specifically citing caution on the part of technology sector clients.

Like-for-like growth in net revenues was now seen at 2-4%, down from 6-10% before.

Elsewhere, GSK's majority-owned subsidiary ViiV Healthcare announced that cabotegravir, a long-acting injectable for HIV prevention, had received a positive opinion from the European Medicines Agency.

Liontrust Asset Management extended its offer period to acquire GAM Holding AG for three days, until 28 July, as it tries to win over some reticent shareholders.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,646.32 -0.23% FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,197.44 -0.02% techMARK (TASX) 4,465.40 -0.06%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Ocado Group (OCDO) 765.00p 11.35% Vodafone Group (VOD) 76.15p 3.59% BT Group (BT.A) 126.10p 2.40% Persimmon (PSN) 1,187.50p 1.58% Legal & General Group (LGEN) 234.60p 1.25% St James's Place (STJ) 1,176.00p 1.20% Intertek Group (ITRK) 4,233.00p 1.12% Glencore (GLEN) 477.40p 1.03% SEGRO (SGRO) 793.20p 0.99% Land Securities Group (LAND) 664.40p 0.85%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Burberry Group (BRBY) 2,181.00p -2.81% International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 152.40p -2.15% Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 909.20p -1.92% Unilever (ULVR) 4,004.00p -1.91% Convatec Group (CTEC) 210.00p -1.87% WPP (WPP) 812.80p -1.84% BAE Systems (BA.) 913.80p -1.47% Relx plc (REL) 2,574.00p -1.30% Reckitt Benckiser Group (RKT) 5,862.00p -1.21% Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 280.60p -1.20%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Molten Ventures (GROW) 278.20p 3.42% Vanquis Banking Group 20 (VANQ) 188.00p 3.30% Darktrace (DARK) 393.80p 2.82% Abrdn Private Equity Opportunities Trust (APEO) 448.00p 2.75% Bytes Technology Group (BYIT) 525.50p 2.44% Currys (CURY) 55.55p 2.21% International Distributions Services (IDS) 269.40p 2.16% Synthomer (SYNT) 81.90p 2.12% Bridgepoint Group (Reg S) (BPT) 213.40p 2.11% NB Private Equity Partners Ltd. (NBPE) 1,580.00p 1.94%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Bakkavor Group (BAKK) 100.00p -5.21% Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 2,553.00p -4.27% Me Group International (MEGP) 150.60p -3.59% easyJet (EZJ) 460.80p -3.29% Ferrexpo (FXPO) 91.90p -3.21% TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 595.00p -2.30% Target Healthcare Reit Ltd (THRL) 77.10p -2.16% Watches of Switzerland Group (WOSG) 705.50p -1.67% Balanced Commercial Property Trust Limited (BCPT) 70.80p -1.67% HGCapital Trust (HGT) 372.50p -1.46%