London midday: Stocks steady as investors mull China inflation data

(Sharecast News) - London stocks were still little changed by midday on Monday as investors mulled disappointing data out of China, with miners under the cosh. The FTSE 100 was up just 0.1% at 7,267.35.

Figures released earlier by the National Bureau of Statistics showed that producer prices in China slumped again in June.

Producer price inflation fell 5.4% year-on-year in June, from 4.6% a month earlier and versus expectations of a 5% drop. This marked the worse decline since December 2015.

Meanwhile, the consumer price index slowed to 0% in June year-on-year from 0.2% in May, coming in below consensus expectations for it to be unchanged. This marked the lowest reading since February 2021.

Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "The continued loss of power in the Chinese economy is concerning investors, with consumer prices flatlining. The downbeat data comes ahead of the key inflation snapshot in the United States on Wednesday, which could determine how long the monetary squeeze will continue.

"While inflation shows signs of stubbornness in other economies, disinflationary forces are at work in China, which risk tipping the world's second largest economy into a deflation scenario. There will be some hope that lower Chinese prices will boost exports, but this has not been evident."

In equity markets, miners were in the red, with Rio Tinto, Anglo American and Antofagasta all lower.

BT Group was flat as it announced that chief executive Philip Jansen had decided to step down from his position in the next 12 months, after spending four-and-a-half years in the role.

It said that in light of Jansen's forthcoming departure, its nominations committee had initiated a formal succession process to identify a suitable candidate for the role of chief executive. The news came amid reports the FTSE 100 telecoms company was in the sights of its major shareholder Deutsche Telekom for a possible takeover.

Online supermarket Ocado was under pressure after Barclays cut its price target on the shares to 640p from 740p.

Hammerson, Land Securities and Shaftesbury were all knocked lower by rating downgrades at HSBC.

On the upside, media group Future rallied after it announced a share buyback of up to £45m, while fintech company Plus500 rose as it maintained annual guidance after a rise in first-half core earnings and revenues.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,267.35 0.14% FTSE 250 (MCX) 18,006.54 0.01% techMARK (TASX) 4,300.73 0.26%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Flutter Entertainment (CDI) (FLTR) 14,965.00p 1.91% Severn Trent (SVT) 2,427.00p 1.38% Hiscox Limited (DI) (HSX) 1,063.00p 1.33% Ashtead Group (AHT) 5,160.00p 1.30% Shell (SHEL) 2,310.50p 1.23% Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,176.00p 1.07% United Utilities Group (UU.) 941.20p 1.03% CRH (CDI) (CRH) 4,218.00p 0.98% DCC (CDI) (DCC) 4,244.00p 0.98% Airtel Africa (AAF) 104.70p 0.96%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Ocado Group (OCDO) 566.00p -4.39% Rio Tinto (RIO) 4,814.00p -2.05% SEGRO (SGRO) 699.40p -1.44% Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,395.50p -1.41% Endeavour Mining (EDV) 1,805.00p -1.37% Fresnillo (FRES) 597.80p -1.35% Land Securities Group (LAND) 565.00p -1.26% Anglo American (AAL) 2,176.50p -1.11% Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 267.50p -1.11% Prudential (PRU) 1,027.50p -1.11%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Future (FUTR) 739.50p 6.71% OSB Group (OSB) 354.00p 5.67% Lancashire Holdings Limited (LRE) 602.50p 3.34% Plus500 Ltd (DI) (PLUS) 1,511.00p 2.79% PureTech Health (PRTC) 220.50p 2.32% TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 581.50p 2.29% Paragon Banking Group (PAG) 506.50p 2.20% Pagegroup (PAGE) 414.80p 2.07% CMC Markets (CMCX) 151.80p 1.88% Dr. Martens (DOCS) 117.20p 1.82%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Hammerson (HMSO) 23.76p -3.49% Abrdn Private Equity Opportunities Trust (APEO) 442.50p -2.75% Coats Group (COA) 65.90p -2.51% Energean (ENOG) 980.00p -2.39% Big Yellow Group (BYG) 996.00p -2.26% Diversified Energy Company (DEC) 85.45p -2.18% Assura (AGR) 43.56p -1.98% Bytes Technology Group (BYIT) 513.50p -1.91% Molten Ventures (GROW) 258.80p -1.75% Shaftesbury Capital (SHC) 109.60p -1.70%