London midday: Stocks flatten out but StanChart powers ahead on buyback

(Sharecast News) - London stocks had pared earlier gains to trade flat by midday on Friday, but Standard Chartered powered ahead as it unveiled a $1bn share buyback. The FTSE 100 was steady at 7,686.32.

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: "The market may now be short of big catalysts until the middle of next week as the US reporting season begins to wind down, with core PCE (personal consumption expenditures) data from the US likely to be closely watched next Thursday given it is the Federal Reserve's preferred measure of inflation."

Investors were mulling a survey showing that consumer confidence faltered in February as concerns about the economy continued to weigh heavily.

According to the latest GfK consumer confidence barometer - which has been running since January 1974 - the overall index fell two points to -21.

Within that, the measure for the general economic situation over the last 12 months dipped two points to -43, while the gauge for the outlook for the coming year fell three points, to -24.

The major purchase index was also lower, off five points at -25.

However, respondents did appear marginally more confident about how their personal finances would fare over the coming months, with the measure unchanged on January at 0.

While the measure has yet to move into positive territory, GfK said, it is a notable improvement on the -18 recorded in February 2023.

Joe Staton, client strategy director at GfK, said: "The metric is key to understanding the financial mood of the nation, because confident householders are more likely to spend despite the cost of living crisis."

He continued: "It will be interesting to see what the forthcoming budget delivers in terms of taxation and inflation.

"These are important issues to everyone, especially in an election year; the recent performance of the economy will play a crucial role in determining results at the ballot box."

The highest-score ever achieved by the consumer confidence barometer was 21 in January 1978, while the lowest was -49 in September 2022.

The largest monthly drop occurred in March 2020, at the start of the first Covid-19 lockdown, when it plunged 25 points.

In equity markets, Asia-focused bank Standard Chartered surged as it unveiled a new $1bn buyback, increased dividend and higher annual profits, but reined in guidance on income for the current year.

The bank reported an 18% rise in pre-tax profit to $5.1bn and lifted its full-year dividend 50% to 27 cents a share, well above estimates of 23.7 cents.

However, it also forecast income growth at the upper end of 5-7% this year, down from the previous estimate of 8-10% given last October. The lender reported a 13% rise in income in 2023 on a constant currency basis.

Chemring edged lower as it held guidance but said that annual results will now be increasingly weighted to the second half after severe winter conditions interrupted manufacturing operations at the start of the financial year.

The aerospace and defence firm said the current environment of heightened geopolitical uncertainty continues to position it well for growth as it reported an order book of £991m at 30 January, up 51% on the same point a year ago.

In broker note action, Breedon Group gained after an upgrade to 'overweight' from 'equalweight' at Barclays, while Domino's Pizza fell after a downgrade to 'equalweight' by the same outfit.

Outside the FTSE 350, Hornby surged as it emerged that Mike Ashley's Frasers Group has lifted its stake in the model train maker to 8.9%.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,686.32 0.02% FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,183.31 -0.42% techMARK (TASX) 4,394.81 -0.01%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Standard Chartered (STAN) 664.80p 9.78% JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 115.05p 1.41% HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 598.10p 1.29% Kingfisher (KGF) 228.50p 1.06% Rentokil Initial (RTO) 430.50p 1.06% BAE Systems (BA.) 1,245.00p 1.06% Haleon (HLN) 329.65p 0.96% Mondi (MNDI) 1,423.00p 0.89% London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) 8,918.00p 0.84% NATWEST GROUP (NWG) 230.00p 0.83%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

St James's Place (STJ) 646.00p -2.51% Centrica (CNA) 125.90p -2.10% Glencore (GLEN) 372.15p -2.04% Vodafone Group (VOD) 64.49p -1.90% Admiral Group (ADM) 2,525.00p -1.71% BT Group (BT.A) 105.75p -1.58% International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 151.45p -1.24% Whitbread (WTB) 3,501.00p -1.16% Prudential (PRU) 813.60p -1.09% Airtel Africa (AAF) 92.25p -1.07%

FTSE 250 - Risers

PureTech Health (PRTC) 205.50p 7.37% TBC Bank Group (TBCG) 3,060.00p 3.38% Bakkavor Group (BAKK) 97.00p 1.89% Bytes Technology Group (BYIT) 555.50p 1.83% Bank of Georgia Group (BGEO) 4,650.00p 1.75% Breedon Group (BREE) 374.00p 1.49% LondonMetric Property (LMP) 188.80p 1.34% Genus (GNS) 1,992.00p 1.32% Victrex plc (VCT) 1,295.00p 1.17% Moonpig Group (MOON) 171.10p 1.06%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Domino's Pizza Group (DOM) 353.60p -3.70% Harbour Energy (HBR) 249.00p -3.60% TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 566.50p -3.57% Diversified Energy Company (DEC) 949.00p -3.51% Me Group International (MEGP) 154.00p -3.39% Close Brothers Group (CBG) 338.40p -2.70% Energean (ENOG) 958.00p -2.69% IWG (IWG) 196.40p -2.39% Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 169.70p -2.25% Ithaca Energy (ITH) 133.80p -2.19%