London midday: FTSE 100 hits 14-month high but gains modest

(Sharecast News) - UK stocks were at their highest in 14 months Tuesday as investors returned to their desks after the long weekend, though gains were only modest ahead of a busy week for economic data which could decide on course for monetary policy in the short term. Last week's revelation about a pick-up in US PCE inflation along with stronger-than-expected activity in the US manufacturing sector has "cast doubt on expectations for a June rate cut [from the Federal Reserve]", according to Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management.

This was dampening sentiment on Wall Street early on, with stock futures pointing to more profit taking following Monday's losses.

Nevertheless, London's FTSE 100 was trading 0.3% higher at 7,973.86 by the midday mark, helped higher by oil and mining stocks as commodity prices gained. "Commodity producers account for a large weighting of the FTSE 100 and the index typically does well when these stocks are bid up," said Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell

The index reached a high of 8,015.63 in morning trade, surpassing the 8,000 mark for the first time since February 2023, which "provides a psychological boost to investors and implies that the blue-chip UK index still has some life left in it", Mould said.

Data barrage

Tuesday was another busy session in terms of economic data, with UK lending and house price figures, along with Germany inflation, manufacturing surveys across Europe and US job openings, along with a number of hotly anticipated speeches from members of the Federal Reserve.

The Nationwide UK house price index showed that price inflation ebbed unexpectedly last month. In seasonally adjusted terms, house prices recorded a month-on-month dip of 0.2% in March, under the consensus forecast of a 0.3% increase, after a 0.7% gain in February.

Meanwhile, manufacturing PMIs from March released by Hamburg Commercial Bank (HCOB) in Italy, Spain, France and Germany all came in ahead of expectations - with Italy showing its first month of industry expansion in nearly a year.

Looking ahead, market participants will be keeping their eyes out for Eurozone inflation figures and ADP's US employment report on Wednesday and the closely watched US non-farm payrolls data on Friday.

Market movers

Mining and oil stocks were performing well on Tuesday in London, with Fresnillo, Anglo American, Rio Tinto, Glencore, BP Antofagasta and Shell among the top performers on the FTSE 100 as commodity prices gained.

Brent crude in particular was up 1.6% at $88.85 a barrel on the back of hopes of increased demand from China and the US, along with concerns that ongoing geopolitical tensions in the Middle East could potentially impact oil supply. Gold meanwhile was rising further after hitting a new record high of $2,265.49 an ounce on Monday.

HSBC was also on the rise after completing the sale of its Canadian banking operations to RBC, a move which it says "unlocks significant value". Completion of the transaction will result in the recognition of an estimated gain on sale of $4.9bn in the first quarter of 2024, the company said.

On the downside, consumer-goods companies were performing badly, such as Reckitt Benckiser, Coca-Cola HBC and Ocado.

Meanwhile, housebuilders Persimmon, Hammerson and Taylor Wimpey and builders merchant CRH were being weighed down by the weak housing-price data.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,973.86 0.27% FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,828.88 -0.28% techMARK (TASX) 4,505.42 -0.70%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Fresnillo (FRES) 503.00p 7.04% Anglo American (AAL) 2,027.00p 3.85% Shell (SHEL) 2,708.50p 3.18% Glencore (GLEN) 448.45p 3.02% BP (BP.) 510.50p 2.99% Rio Tinto (RIO) 5,113.00p 1.91% JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 137.05p 1.90% BT Group (BT.A) 111.05p 1.28% Antofagasta (ANTO) 2,065.00p 1.28% Centrica (CNA) 129.20p 1.21%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Reckitt Benckiser Group (RKT) 4,374.00p -3.06% Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 2,448.00p -2.20% SEGRO (SGRO) 885.80p -1.99% Ocado Group (OCDO) 446.20p -1.96% Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 1,881.00p -1.95% CRH (CDI) (CRH) 6,698.00p -1.90% Persimmon (PSN) 1,291.50p -1.86% Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 134.50p -1.86% Land Securities Group (LAND) 646.00p -1.85% Unite Group (UTG) 961.00p -1.74%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Endeavour Mining (EDV) 1,659.00p 3.11% Hochschild Mining (HOC) 131.20p 2.98% TI Fluid Systems (TIFS) 148.20p 2.92% North Atlantic Smaller Companies Inv Trust (NAS) 3,700.00p 2.78% Petershill Partners (PHLL) 194.00p 2.54% Diversified Energy Company (DEC) 972.00p 2.53% Fidelity China Special Situations (FCSS) 205.50p 2.24% BlackRock World Mining Trust (BRWM) 527.00p 1.93% Pantheon International (PIN) 325.00p 1.88% Domino's Pizza Group (DOM) 350.40p 1.68%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Watches of Switzerland Group (WOSG) 343.20p -4.29% Ithaca Energy (ITH) 127.50p -4.14% Hammerson (HMSO) 28.74p -3.49% Mobico Group (MCG) 67.20p -3.45% Elementis (ELM) 143.40p -3.37% Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 164.40p -3.24% IWG (IWG) 186.80p -3.16% Close Brothers Group (CBG) 406.20p -2.87% Marshalls (MSLH) 267.00p -2.84% Carnival (CCL) 1,138.50p -2.65%