London midday: FTSE pares gains ahead of US inflation reading

(Sharecast News) - London stocks had pared gains by midday on Tuesday, with sentiment lifted after the US and China extended their trade truce deadline by another 90 days, but amid caution ahead of a key US inflation print. The FTSE 100 was up just 0.1% at 9,142.37.

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: "Markets reacted with relief to news of an extension on the US-China trade deadline which was set to expire today.

"However, this relief was measured given the market had largely anticipated such an outcome."

On home shores, data from the Office for National Statistics showed the unemployment rate was unchanged at a four-year high of 4.7% in the three months to June.

Average earnings growth excluding bonuses was unchanged at 5%, while total pay growth including bonuses was 4.6%, down from 5.0%.

The data also showed that the estimated number of vacancies fell by 44,000 on the quarter, to 718,000, in May to July 2025. This was the 37th consecutive period where vacancy numbers dropped compared with the previous three months, with vacancies falling in 16 of the 18 industry sectors.

The early estimate of payrolled employees for July fell by 164,000 on the year, and by 8,000 on the month, to 30.3m.

ONS director of economic statistics Liz McKeown said: "Taken together, these latest figures point to a continued cooling of the labour market.

"The number of employees on payroll has now fallen in 10 of the last 12 months, with these falls concentrated in hospitality and retail.

"Job vacancies, likewise, have continued to fall, also driven by fewer opportunities in these industries."

Looking ahead to the rest of the day, attention will turn to the US consumer price index for July due at 1330 BST.

Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "The latest US inflation reading will be closely watched later and is already set to indicate the creeping effect of tariffs, with CPI expected to rise 0.2% in July, while core CPI, which strips out volatile food and fuel prices expected to edge up by around 0.3%.

"While triple-digit tariffs on China goods look set to be avoided, the current levies are still onerous and alongside sharply higher duties on goods from other nations, it's still going to be a heavy financial burden to shoulder for American importers. There's wary sentiment around ahead of the inflation reading with futures markets showing flat trading."

In equity markets, Spirax surged to the top of the FTSE 100 as its first-half-results beat expectations.

Housebuilder Bellway rallied as it said total completions in the year to 31 July rose 14.3% to 8,749 homes at an overall average selling price of around £316,000, compared with £307,909 a year ago, both slightly ahead of previous guidance.

The company said it now expected to maintain "broadly flat" average outlet numbers for fiscal 2026 and forecast growth in volume output to around 9,200 homes and higher cash generation for shareholder returns.

Ladbrokes owner Entain slumped despite lifting its full-year guidance after a better-than-expected first-half performance.

Russ Mould said: "It's not all good news as the company's physical outlets are not seeing any growth and the company continues to face potential regulatory and tax headwinds, with a gambling levy being floated ahead of this year's Budget.

"However, in terms of what it can control Entain seems to be getting more right than it is getting wrong right now."

Recruiter PageGroup lost ground after it posted a slump in first-half profit as activity in its two biggest markets, France and Germany, deteriorated.

Genuit was also in the red after results, along with Derwent London.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 9,142.37 0.14% FTSE 250 (MCX) 21,844.98 -0.20% techMARK (TASX) 5,201.31 -0.13%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Spirax Group (SPX) 6,800.00p 12.21% Airtel Africa (AAF) 216.60p 2.17% BT Group (BT.A) 212.10p 1.82% Rio Tinto (RIO) 4,656.75p 1.52% Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,415.00p 1.43% Pershing Square Holdings Ltd NPV (PSH) 4,162.00p 1.41% Antofagasta (ANTO) 2,061.00p 1.18% Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,358.50p 1.15% Prudential (PRU) 976.80p 0.83% Melrose Industries (MRO) 585.20p 0.65%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

The Sage Group (SGE) 1,090.50p -5.26% Entain (ENT) 894.00p -4.53% Games Workshop Group (GAW) 15,090.00p -2.01% Croda International (CRDA) 2,433.00p -1.82% Flutter Entertainment (DI) (FLTR) 20,910.00p -1.37% JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 84.82p -1.17% London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) 9,810.00p -0.93% Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 1,064.00p -0.84% Alliance Witan (ALW) 1,244.00p -0.80% United Utilities Group (UU.) 1,127.50p -0.79%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Assura (AGR) 50.25p 2.89% Coats Group (COA) 73.70p 2.79% Primary Health Properties (PHP) 96.50p 2.44% Ithaca Energy (ITH) 175.60p 2.21% ICG Enterprise Trust (ICGT) 1,484.00p 1.92% Close Brothers Group (CBG) 552.00p 1.85% Future (FUTR) 734.00p 1.73% Vesuvius (VSVS) 360.60p 1.58% Harbour Energy (HBR) 234.60p 1.47% Keller Group (KLR) 1,350.00p 1.35%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Genuit Group (GEN) 361.50p -6.35% Derwent London (DLN) 1,823.00p -5.00% Ocado Group (OCDO) 360.90p -3.35% Raspberry PI Holdings (RPI) 407.20p -3.19% Plus500 Ltd (DI) (PLUS) 3,146.00p -2.54% Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 72.20p -2.17% Baltic Classifieds Group (BCG) 348.00p -2.11% Auction Technology Group (ATG) 331.00p -1.78% Lion Finance Group (BGEO) 7,870.00p -1.69% Softcat (SCT) 1,556.00p -1.58%