London midday: Stocks maintain gains as investors eye inflation data

(Sharecast News) - London stocks were still in the black by midday on Monday following on from solid gains on Wall Street at the end of last week, as investors looked ahead to inflation readings this week in the UK and US. The FTSE 100 was up 0.6% at 7,405.96.

Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "The FTSE 100 has found a dose of Monday motivation amid hopes that peak interest rates have been reached, despite warnings about America's huge debt pile and ongoing geo-political fracture.

"There is a little more optimism edging in on markets ahead of key inflation data out this week, with sentiment fluctuating about what lies ahead for monetary policy. Investors sentiment is volatile when it comes to expectation of bank policy, swinging from pessimism to optimism from session to session.

"Investors will be hanging on words of central bank policymakers this week, as a slew of speeches are expected for clues about the future trajectory of monetary policy. Bank of England MPC members Sarah Breeden and Catherine Mann are set to speak later today, while Chief economist Huw Pill will make a talk at the Festival of Economics in Bristol on Tuesday. His views about the direction of monetary policy for central banks will be poured through for clues about how split the Bank of England is on its future interest rate decisions."

Data released earlier by Rightmove showed that house prices fell sharply in November as sellers trimmed expectations to secure sales.

According to the latest house price index, the average new selling asking price dropped 1.7% in November to £362,143. It was the steepest November drop since 2018. Annually, prices fell 1.3%.

That compares to a 0.5% monthly uptick in October, and 0.8% fall year-on-year.

Rightmove said that with Christmas now approaching, sellers were cutting prices as they look to attracted cash-strapped buyers.

Agreed sales were 10% below 2019's pre-pandemic market, although that is an improvement on October, when agreed sales were 15% below 2019.

Tim Bannister, director of property science at Rightmove, said: "We'd expect to see a drop in new seller asking prices in the last couple of the months of the year, as serious sellers start to cut through the Christmas noise with an attractive price to secure a buyer.

"However, the larger-than-usual drop this month signals that among the usual pricing seasonality, we are starting to see more new sellers come to market with more enticing prices.

"Buyers are still out there, but for many their affordability is much reduced due to higher mortgage rates."

In equity markets, insurer Phoenix Group jumped to the top of the FTSE 100 as it lifted its full-year cash generation targets after completing the funds merger of its Standard Life and Phoenix Life businesses into a single entity.

British Land rallied as it reported a decline in half-year net asset value but said rental value growth was set to be at the top end of its previously guided ranges for FY24. Land Securities also gained.

M&G was boosted by an upgrade to 'neutral' from 'underweight' at JPMorgan.

Aerospace giant BAE Systems nudged up as it said it was trading in line with expectations after a strong third quarter, with £10bn in orders booked since the half-year stage.

On the downside, Kainos tanked after it posted a jump in first-half profit and revenue as it hailed continued strong growth across its key business areas, but bookings and healthcare revenues fell.

FMD Group tumbled as it warned that its 2024 performance will be impacted by a lower-than-expected number of consultants assigned to clients at the beginning of the year.

Dr Martens was on the back foot after a downgrade to 'equalweight' from 'overweight' at Barclays.

International Distribution Services lost ground after Ofcom fined Royal Mail £5.6m for missing postal delivery targets in the last financial year "by a significant and unexplained margin".

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,405.96 0.62% FTSE 250 (MCX) 17,869.92 0.09% techMARK (TASX) 4,066.84 0.55%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Phoenix Group Holdings (PHNX) 491.00p 5.77% Melrose Industries (MRO) 527.00p 2.33% Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 237.40p 2.33% Rentokil Initial (RTO) 456.40p 2.22% Land Securities Group (LAND) 612.00p 2.03% Auto Trader Group (AUTO) 695.20p 1.94% Flutter Entertainment (CDI) (FLTR) 12,390.00p 1.93% AstraZeneca (AZN) 10,284.00p 1.92% Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,007.50p 1.87% InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 5,966.00p 1.84%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Entain (ENT) 910.80p -1.60% Centrica (CNA) 149.90p -1.45% Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 706.60p -0.95% Diageo (DGE) 2,823.00p -0.95% Informa (INF) 706.00p -0.81% Associated British Foods (ABF) 2,312.00p -0.77% Weir Group (WEIR) 1,774.00p -0.73% Airtel Africa (AAF) 112.80p -0.62% Spirax-Sarco Engineering (SPX) 8,484.00p -0.61% London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) 8,502.00p -0.61%

FTSE 250 - Risers

British Land Company (BLND) 329.70p 5.10% easyJet (EZJ) 408.60p 3.68% W.A.G Payment Solutions (WPS) 94.80p 3.04% Lancashire Holdings Limited (LRE) 670.50p 2.52% Carnival (CCL) 924.20p 2.39% Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 1,693.50p 2.33% Bank of Georgia Group (BGEO) 3,595.00p 1.70% CLS Holdings (CLI) 90.30p 1.69% Mitchells & Butlers (MAB) 228.80p 1.69% Premier Foods (PFD) 128.60p 1.58%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Kainos Group (KNOS) 991.50p -19.52% FDM Group (Holdings) (FDM) 390.00p -16.49% Dr. Martens (DOCS) 110.80p -6.73% Ceres Power Holdings (CWR) 191.00p -3.92% CAB Payments Holdings (CABP) 62.05p -3.80% Foresight Group Holdings Limited NPV (FSG) 396.00p -2.22% Indivior (INDV) 1,266.00p -2.09% 4Imprint Group (FOUR) 4,305.00p -2.05% RHI Magnesita N.V. (DI) (RHIM) 2,636.00p -1.64% Ithaca Energy (ITH) 157.60p -1.62%