London midday: Stocks edge lower after last week's gains

(Sharecast News) - London stocks had fallen into the red by midday on Monday, having closed at their highest level in more than a year at the end of last week. The FTSE 100 was down 0.4% at 7,897.52.

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said heightened tensions between Ukraine and Russia have brought a halt to the rally in equity markets seen last week.

"Investors were nervously watching proceedings from the side lines, particularly as oil prices crept up once again, including a 0.5% rise in Brent Crude to $85.84 a barrel. The commodity price has been strengthening amid concerns about tighter global supplies and a falling US rig count which implies less exploration and production activity."

In equity markets, Ocado fell following a report over the weekend suggesting the company is under pressure over executive pay after an influential proxy adviser urged shareholders to vote against a new bonus scheme that could see its boss Tim Steiner paid as much as £14.8m.

According to The Times, Institutional Shareholder Services has recommended that investors vote against the online grocer's new remuneration policy and performance share plan at its annual meeting on April 29, citing "material concerns" over the sum of money executives could receive.

B&Q owner Kingfisher was just a touch lower, having pared earlier big losses, after saying it expects lower annual profits in the current year as the home improvement market continued to lag behind demand for housing.

The company, which also owns the Brico depot chain in France, said it expects adjusted pre-tax profit of £490m to £550m compared with the £568m it reported for last year, down 25% on 2022/23.

Direct Line tumbled as it insisted it was confident in its standalone prospects after Belgium's Ageas said it would not be making an offer for the insurer following two failed attempts at engaging with the board.

National Express owner Mobico was under the cosh as it issued a profit warning and further delayed its annual results after an unexpected rebasing of German indices it uses to calculate energy costs. Adjusted earnings before interest and tax are now expected to be at the upper end of a £160m to £175m range, compared with previous guidance of £175m - £185m.

On the upside, Ferrexpo shot higher as it said operations at its Ukrainian subsidiary, FPM, have been performing well and there has been no disruption to the production and sale of its products. It said production volumes for the month of February were the highest since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,897.52 -0.42% FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,581.27 -0.73% techMARK (TASX) 4,503.60 -0.32%

FTSE 100 - Risers

3i Group (III) 2,790.00p 1.05% Pershing Square Holdings Ltd NPV (PSH) 4,194.00p 0.91% Airtel Africa (AAF) 100.70p 0.80% BP (BP.) 502.60p 0.75% Sage Group (SGE) 1,268.50p 0.55% Intermediate Capital Group (ICP) 2,071.00p 0.44% Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 2,489.00p 0.40% St James's Place (STJ) 460.30p 0.37% Flutter Entertainment (DI) (FLTR) 17,245.00p 0.29% Experian (EXPN) 3,496.00p 0.29%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Spirax-Sarco Engineering (SPX) 10,210.00p -3.63% Ocado Group (OCDO) 452.10p -3.46% Croda International (CRDA) 4,992.00p -1.96% Persimmon (PSN) 1,311.50p -1.83% Reckitt Benckiser Group (RKT) 4,329.00p -1.75% Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,973.50p -1.67% Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 1,884.50p -1.62% easyJet (EZJ) 537.40p -1.61% Diploma (DPLM) 3,402.00p -1.45% Smiths Group (SMIN) 1,656.00p -1.43%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Ferrexpo (FXPO) 45.00p 4.12% W.A.G Payment Solutions (WPS) 72.00p 2.86% Breedon Group (BREE) 378.00p 2.44% PureTech Health (PRTC) 220.50p 2.08% PZ Cussons (PZC) 87.10p 1.99% Network International Holdings (NETW) 393.40p 1.92% Darktrace (DARK) 434.80p 1.80% QinetiQ Group (QQ.) 369.00p 1.54% NextEnergy Solar Fund Limited Red (NESF) 72.90p 1.39% Trainline (TRN) 373.40p 1.25%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Direct Line Insurance Group (DLG) 182.45p -12.70% Future (FUTR) 627.50p -4.27% Mobico Group (MCG) 68.40p -4.27% Fidelity Emerging Markets Limited Ptg NPV (FEML) 650.00p -2.88% Bridgepoint Group (Reg S) (BPT) 269.20p -2.75% Trustpilot Group (TRST) 186.30p -2.72% Rotork (ROR) 328.60p -2.43% Pennon Group (PNN) 654.50p -2.31% Baltic Classifieds Group (BCG) 225.50p -2.17% Bluefield Solar Income Fund Limited (BSIF) 99.60p -2.16%