London midday: Stocks stay down amid China concerns; Rightmove rallies

(Sharecast News) - London stocks were still a little weaker by midday on Monday, with concerns about the Chinese economy weighing on sentiment. The FTSE 100 was down 0.2% at 7,472.95.

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: "Renewed worries about the outlook for the Chinese economy caused tremors across global markets at the start of the new trading week.

"There was a slowdown in China's industrial profit growth during October, causing markets to speculate its government will have to come up with yet another stimulus measure to avoid the economy spluttering."

On home shores, investors digested the latest survey from the Confederation of British Industry, which showed that the decline in retail sales eased somewhat in November, but the outlook for Christmas was gloomy.

The CBI's monthly retail sales balanced improved to -11 from -36 in October. However, this marked the seventh consecutive monthly fall, with sales growth set to remain slightly negative next month.

Although retailers said sales were disappointing for the time of year, sentiment recovered slightly in November, with firms expecting their business situation to improve marginally over the next three months.

CBI principal economist Martin Sartorius said: "Retail sales have languished in negative territory for much of 2023, reflecting the impact of strained household finances on the sector's fortunes. Though sentiment has picked up slightly, firms do not feel that a revival in activity is imminent. Given the weakness in trading conditions, it's little surprise that firms are scaling back on their investment ambitions.

"Retailers had hoped the Chancellor's Autumn Statement would offer a reprieve from next year's hike in business rates. While prioritising relief for SMEs and key sectors is understandable, many retailers are being left to contend with another increase in costs at a time when they are least able to afford them."

In equity markets, Ladbrokes and Coral owner Entain was knocked lower by a downgrade to 'sell' from 'buy' at Goldman Sachs. "We now believe the inflection of fundamentals will take longer to come through, leading us to cut our estimates (by circa 30% at EPS for FY24/25E)," it said.

AstraZeneca was also hit by a broker note, as Jefferies cut its price target on the shares to 12,500p from 13,000p.

On the upside, precious metals miner Fresnillo shot to the top of the FTSE 100 as gold prices rallied.

Rightmove rallied after it lifted its full-year forecast for annual revenue per advertiser as it hailed strong demand for its products since it last reported. The company now expects ARPA growth to be between £112 and £116, up from previous guidance of £103 to £105.

West End landlord Shaftesbury Capital gained as it hailed a "strong" start to the Christmas trading, with footfall high and sales tracking above the prior year. The company said customers reported sales up 12% on 2022 levels and 16% above 2019 levels.

Johnson Matthey surged after an upgrade to 'buy' from 'underperform' at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

"We believe Johnson Matthey can extract more value than we previously thought from its Clean Air franchise thanks to management's cost cutting efforts," it said. "We also see encouraging signs that it can generate new revenue streams in its Catalyst Tech business."

Aviva was in focus as it agreed to buy Optiom from Novacap and other minority shareholders for around £100m. Optiom, which operates as a managing general agent, is a provider of vehicle replacement insurance in Canada and offers flexible payment options to customers.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,472.95 -0.20% FTSE 250 (MCX) 18,470.12 0.07% techMARK (TASX) 4,115.41 -0.14%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Fresnillo (FRES) 559.60p 5.86% Rightmove (RMV) 536.80p 5.42% Admiral Group (ADM) 2,717.00p 1.99% JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 150.50p 1.55% Sage Group (SGE) 1,121.00p 1.54% Endeavour Mining (EDV) 1,757.00p 1.33% Auto Trader Group (AUTO) 709.80p 1.31% Frasers Group (FRAS) 878.00p 1.15% B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 550.40p 0.95% SSE (SSE) 1,836.00p 0.88%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Entain (ENT) 839.40p -2.28% St James's Place (STJ) 650.60p -1.69% AstraZeneca (AZN) 10,046.00p -1.32% Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,509.50p -1.21% Shell (SHEL) 2,568.50p -1.02% Flutter Entertainment (CDI) (FLTR) 12,495.00p -0.99% Prudential (PRU) 915.00p -0.72% Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 42.18p -0.68% Vodafone Group (VOD) 71.27p -0.66% Schroders (SDR) 398.60p -0.62%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 1,605.50p 3.85% Shaftesbury Capital (SHC) 119.70p 2.84% Digital 9 Infrastructure NPV (DGI9) 43.15p 2.13% Dr. Martens (DOCS) 110.80p 2.12% Centamin (DI) (CEY) 91.85p 1.89% Tritax Eurobox (GBP) (EBOX) 56.30p 1.81% Henderson Smaller Companies Inv Trust (HSL) 748.00p 1.63% Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 237.80p 1.62% Me Group International (MEGP) 136.00p 1.49% Pets at Home Group (PETS) 290.00p 1.47%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

W.A.G Payment Solutions (WPS) 89.00p -3.26% 888 Holdings (DI) (888) 78.30p -2.43% Ithaca Energy (ITH) 155.50p -2.32% Empiric Student Property (ESP) 92.30p -1.91% HGCapital Trust (HGT) 403.00p -1.71% Ceres Power Holdings (CWR) 192.10p -1.69% JPMorgan Japanese Inv Trust (JFJ) 472.00p -1.67% Indivior (INDV) 1,288.00p -1.53% FirstGroup (FGP) 163.70p -1.50% Energean (ENOG) 961.50p -1.49%