London midday: UK stocks keep grinding towards year's highs

(Sharecast News) - Stocks are moving higher still shortly before midday with investor sentiment buoyed by fresh bullish news around the artificial intelligence space, even as investors keep a wary eye on the ongoing budget standoff in Washington D.C.. Worth noting, some observers were betting that the US federal government shutdown might extend until mid-October.

As of 1145 BST, the FTSE 100 is ahead by 0.66% to 9,489.82, with banks and miners still lending their heft to the upside, alongside an advance of 0.71% for the second-tier index to 22,203.23.

Michael Hartnett at BofA Global Research nevertheless sounded a cautious note on the market backdrop.

"These credit cracks a big deal, but not big enough to put top in right now [...] each of past 5 months monthly low for S&P 500 printed on 1st trading day of month...first time this has happened since 1928."

Nevertheless, Hartnett also pointed out to clients UK stocks exposure to many of the resources underlying the AI boom, such as copper, alongside defensive exposure to Big Pharma names.

In parallel, COMEX gold futures are up ahead 0.54% to $3,888.80/oz on news that flights at Munich Airport were suspended after a drone sighting.

Brent crude oil futures are up by 0.32% to $64.43 a barrel on the ICE ahead of an OPEC+ meeting at the weekend, but still headed for the largest weekly drop since mid-June.

Overnight, it was reported that Elon Musk's OpenAI had fetched a $500bn valuation as part of its latest funding deal.

That cemented its position as the most valuable privately-held company in the world.

And according to Bloomberg, Global Infrastructure Partners is in advanced negotiations to buy Aligned Data Centers for roughly $40bn, underscoring the massive amount of funds that is being channelled into the sector.

Still on the economic calendar for Friday, at 1500 BST the Institute for Supply Management will release its non-manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index for September.

On home shores, consultancy S&P Global reported that its services sector PMI for the UK fell to 50.8 in the month of September, after a print of 54.2 for August.

S&P Global's euro area services PMI meanwhile has come in at 51.3 (Preliminary: 50.5), an eight month high, versus a reading of 50.5 for August.

Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey is due to deliver a speech a 1420 BST.

JD Wetherspoon anticipates "reasonable" FY outcome

JD Wetherspoon posted a full-yar rise in like-for-like sales of 5.1% with profit before tax ahead by 10.1% to £81.4m. Free cash inflow per share surged by 79.2% to 47.3p. However, the company reiterated that higher national insurance and labour rates would lead to cost increases of around £60m and energy costs a further £7m per year. The pub-owner opted to keep its dividend pay-out steady at 12.0p.

AIM-listed Big Technologies has announced the resignation of Alexander Brennan from its board following calls from shareholders to oust the non-executive chair. The company has faced fierce criticism following the sacking of former chief executive and founder Sara Murray in March over alleged forgery and the falsification of documents in the lead-up to the company's IPO.

Content solutions firm RWS Holdings announced on Friday that chief financial officer Candida Davies will step down from the role at the end of 2025. Davies will remain with the company to support a smooth transition and the reporting of full-year results. The board has initiated a search for her successor.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 9,489.82 0.66% FTSE 250 (MCX) 22,203.23 0.71%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Bunzl (BNZL) 2,482.00p 4.11% Schroders (SDR) 393.20p 3.58% Fresnillo (FRES) 2,360.00p 3.06% NATWEST GROUP (NWG) 541.00p 2.50% Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 375.20p 1.93% Diploma (DPLM) 5,355.00p 1.90% Barclays (BARC) 387.20p 1.81% 3i Group (III) 4,388.00p 1.81% Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,468.50p 1.80% Melrose Industries (MRO) 640.40p 1.78%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Admiral Group (ADM) 3,310.00p -0.66% Experian (EXPN) 3,497.00p -0.65% Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (DI) (CCEP) 6,540.00p -0.61% GSK (GSK) 1,638.00p -0.55% BT Group (BT.A) 184.70p -0.54% London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) 8,564.00p -0.53% Flutter Entertainment (DI) (FLTR) 18,680.00p -0.51% Legal & General Group (LGEN) 235.60p -0.38% Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 3,350.00p -0.36% Prudential (PRU) 1,016.50p -0.34%

FTSE 250 - Risers

AJ Bell (AJB) 532.50p 4.41% Oxford Biomedica (OXB) 616.00p 3.36% Morgan Advanced Materials (MGAM) 232.00p 3.34% Man Group (EMG) 188.30p 3.07% IntegraFin Holding (IHP) 353.50p 3.06% Lion Finance Group (BGEO) 7,690.00p 2.81% Keller Group (KLR) 1,532.00p 2.54% Assura (AGR) 48.48p 2.49% Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 1,203.00p 2.38% Great Portland Estates (GPE) 330.50p 2.32%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Wetherspoon (J.D.) (JDW) 640.00p -3.76% Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 83.60p -2.73% ITV (ITV) 78.15p -1.70% Ithaca Energy (ITH) 195.50p -1.46% Anglo-Eastern Plantations (AEP) 1,365.00p -1.09% Patria Private Equity Trust (PPET) 555.00p -1.07% Oakley Capital Investments Limited (DI) (OCI) 570.00p -1.04% Frasers Group (FRAS) 763.50p -0.84% Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) 151.80p -0.78% Plus500 Ltd (DI) (PLUS) 3,158.00p -0.75%