London midday: FTSE stays just higher as BoE stands pat

(Sharecast News) - London stocks were still just a touch higher by midday on Thursday as the Bank of England left interest rates on hold as widely expected, despite falling inflation. The FTSE 100 was up 0.1% at 8,212.25, while sterling was 0.3% lower against the dollar at 1.2688.

The Monetary Policy Committee voted by a majority of seven to two to keep the cost of borrowing at a sixteen year-high of 5.25%.

Data on Wednesday showed inflation fallen back to the BoE's 2% target for the first time in three years.

However, core inflation - which strips out more volatile elements such as food and energy- remains well above target, at 3.5%. Services inflation also remains stubbornly high, at 5.7%.

Most analysts also did not expect the MPC to move ahead of next month's general election.

Opinion is split, however, over whether the MPC will cut rates later this summer or hold off until early autumn.

In equity markets, Sainsbury's gained as NatWest announced it was buying the core banking business of Sainsbury's Bank, taking over £2.5bn of outstanding credit card, unsecured personal loan and saving accounts.

NCC Group rallied as it said that cyber security revenues had returned to growth, helping annual operating profits come in ahead of expectations.

CMC Markets also shot higher as it posted a 15% jump in full-year net operating income to £332.8m - a new record-high outside of the pandemic.

Paper and packaging company DS Smith was in the black as it reported a fall in annual profits driven by weak volumes and high inflation, but said it expected higher prices and demand to boost a recovery in the second half of the current year and into 2026.

Energean rose after saying it had signed a deal to sell its portfolio in Egypt, Italy and Croatia to Carlyle International Energy Partners for an enterprise value of up to $945m.

On the downside, United Utilities, Airtel Africa, Persimmon, Experian, Tate & Lyle and British Land all fell as they traded without entitlement to the dividend.

Tate & Lyle was also in focus after saying it had agreed to buy ingredients company CP Kelco from JM Huber for $1.8bn.

Ocado tumbled as it said the planned go-live of Canadian grocery retailer Sobeys' customer fulfilment centre in Vancouver had been paused and that the two have agreed to end terms related to mutual exclusivity.

Upper Crust owner SSP was knocked lower by a downgrade to 'hold' from 'buy' at Berenberg.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 8,212.25 0.09% FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,413.42 0.16% techMARK (TASX) 4,804.18 0.19%

FTSE 100 - Risers

JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 123.05p 2.71% Fresnillo (FRES) 554.50p 2.50% Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 484.20p 2.48% Land Securities Group (LAND) 622.00p 2.05% WPP (WPP) 750.00p 1.93% BT Group (BT.A) 143.60p 1.66% Entain (ENT) 671.00p 1.51% Spirax Group (SPX) 8,530.00p 1.49% Intermediate Capital Group (ICG) 2,252.00p 1.44% Antofagasta (ANTO) 2,086.00p 1.41%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Ocado Group (OCDO) 326.30p -7.43% United Utilities Group (UU.) 987.80p -2.20% easyJet (EZJ) 448.10p -1.54% Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 299.20p -1.12% Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 4,644.00p -1.07% Persimmon (PSN) 1,351.50p -0.99% Tesco (TSCO) 306.50p -0.78% British American Tobacco (BATS) 2,425.00p -0.61% Beazley (BEZ) 692.50p -0.57% Unilever (ULVR) 4,411.00p -0.50%

FTSE 250 - Risers

NCC Group (NCC) 151.60p 5.42% CMC Markets (CMCX) 294.00p 4.63% Harbour Energy (HBR) 313.00p 4.02% Hochschild Mining (HOC) 184.20p 3.72% Mobico Group (MCG) 48.78p 3.44% TBC Bank Group (TBCG) 2,545.00p 2.62% Allianz Technology Trust (ATT) 412.50p 2.61% Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 147.10p 2.58% Bank of Georgia Group (BGEO) 3,910.00p 2.49% Energean (ENOG) 1,054.00p 2.13%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Tate & Lyle (TATE) 625.50p -7.61% SSP Group (SSPG) 149.30p -6.69% Fidelity China Special Situations (FCSS) 212.50p -2.97% Telecom Plus (TEP) 1,804.00p -2.80% British Land Company (BLND) 412.40p -2.78% Spectris (SXS) 2,950.00p -2.51% Patria Private Equity Trust (PPET) 558.00p -2.11% Templeton Emerging Markets Inv Trust (TEM) 160.20p -1.72% ICG Enterprise Trust (ICGT) 1,238.00p -1.59% Foresight Solar Fund Limited (FSFL) 88.60p -1.45%