London midday: Stocks maintain gains ahead of Fed

(Sharecast News) - London stocks were still firmly in the black by midday on Wednesday, underpinned by strength in the mining and energy sectors, as investors eyed the latest policy announcement from the US Federal Reserve. The FTSE 100 was up 1.4% at 8,389.93.

Ahead of the BoE announcement on Thursday and after the Bank of Japan hiked interest rates by 15 basis points, all eyes were on the Fed decision due at 1900 BST.

Joshua Mahony, chief market analyst at Scope Markets, said: "The FOMC meeting provides an opportunity for the Fed to inform markets over the pathway for rates, with a September hike currently being deemed as a foregone conclusion by many. With inflation still stuck above target, the recent declines have helped push expectations of a dramatic pivot from the Fed in September.

"However, today's FOMC meeting provides the opportunity for Powell to better align market and Fed expectations. Whether the tentative signs of weakness within the jobs market will be enough to bring a strong reaction from Fed remains to be seen. However, coming at a time when we are seeing significant jitters around tech earnings, there is a hope that Powell will provide grounds for optimism within markets going forward."

In equity markets, heavily-weighted miners were among the top performers as copper prices rose, with Antofagasta, Anglo American and Glencore all up. Rio Tinto was also in focus after it reported a 1.8% jump in first-half profit.

Oil giants BP and Shell gushed higher as oil prices pushed up amid escalating tensions in the Middle East.

HSBC was the standout gainer on the FTSE 100 as it said it would start a $3bn share buyback after the Asia-focused bank reported estimate-busting interim profits in its final set of results under chief executive Noel Quinn. Pre-tax profits surged to $8.9bn from $8.8bn a year earlier and smashed analysts' forecasts of $7.8bn.

Quinn, who has been CEO for five years, will be succeeded by finance chief Georges Elhedery.

The bank announced that financial controller Jon Bingham would take on the chief financial officer role on an interim basis.

Taylor Wimpey was up as the housebuilder said profits fell by more than a fifth in the first half as residual build cost inflation and weaker pricing hit margins, but that it now expects full-year completions to be at the top end of guidance after a solid operational performance.

Shaftesbury was also higher after interim results, while Just Eat surged after backing its guidance for 2024 as it posted a more than 40% increase in first-half core profit and announced a new €150m share buyback programme.

Rathbones advanced after it reported a jump in first-half profit and funds under management as it said it was ahead of its objectives following a merger with Investec Wealth & Investment.

Spectris was boosted by an upgrade to 'neutral' from 'underweight' at JPMorgan Cazenove.

On the downside, GSK fell despite raising annual forecasts after better-than-expected second-quarter results, driven by a strong performance from its cancer and HIV treatments.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 8,389.93 1.40% FTSE 250 (MCX) 21,572.11 0.65% techMARK (TASX) 4,825.34 0.69%

FTSE 100 - Risers

HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 705.60p 4.24% Antofagasta (ANTO) 2,008.00p 3.96% Glencore (GLEN) 432.30p 3.77% Anglo American (AAL) 2,362.00p 3.73% Shell (SHEL) 2,849.50p 3.00% Weir Group (WEIR) 2,048.00p 2.40% Flutter Entertainment (DI) (FLTR) 15,350.00p 2.37% Intermediate Capital Group (ICG) 2,172.00p 2.36% BP (BP.) 462.10p 2.31% Burberry Group (BRBY) 780.40p 2.31%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Smurfit Westrock (DI) (SWR) 3,480.00p -3.60% Convatec Group (CTEC) 231.60p -2.36% GSK (GSK) 1,517.00p -1.65% Smith (DS) (SMDS) 450.60p -0.75% Relx plc (REL) 3,663.00p -0.68% Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 329.70p -0.48% easyJet (EZJ) 456.90p -0.41% InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 8,050.00p -0.35% BT Group (BT.A) 141.05p -0.14% Standard Chartered (STAN) 769.20p -0.10%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Rathbones Group (RAT) 1,884.00p 5.25% Indivior (INDV) 1,053.00p 4.05% CMC Markets (CMCX) 334.00p 3.73% Renishaw (RSW) 3,715.00p 3.19% Spectris (SXS) 3,046.00p 3.11% Harbour Energy (HBR) 313.00p 2.99% Me Group International (MEGP) 195.80p 2.94% Drax Group (DRX) 649.50p 2.85% Auction Technology Group (ATG) 492.50p 2.71% Essentra (ESNT) 164.40p 2.49%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Inchcape (INCH) 829.50p -3.49% Wood Group (John) (WG.) 200.00p -1.86% RHI Magnesita N.V. (DI) (RHIM) 3,660.00p -1.74% Apax Global Alpha Limited (APAX) 152.80p -1.42% Great Portland Estates (GPE) 348.00p -1.42% St James's Place (STJ) 689.00p -1.15% Kainos Group (KNOS) 1,106.00p -1.07% Babcock International Group (BAB) 530.00p -1.03% BBGI Global Infrastructure S.A. NPV (DI) (BBGI) 139.00p -0.86% HarbourVest Global Private Equity Limited A Shs (HVPE) 2,600.00p -0.76%