London close: FTSE flat despite positive manufacturing, BoE rate hike eyed
London stocks closed marginally lower on Wednesday even as the pound fell despite better-than-expected manufacturing data, which underpinned expectations of a rate hike tomorrow by the Bank of England.
Associated British Foods
2,447.00p
16:40 19/04/24
AstraZeneca
10,946.00p
17:08 19/04/24
Banks
3,895.51
17:09 19/04/24
Debenhams
1.83p
15:45 08/04/19
Flutter Entertainment (DI)
14,840.00p
16:45 19/04/24
Food Producers & Processors
7,621.47
17:10 19/04/24
FTSE 100
7,895.85
16:59 19/04/24
FTSE 250
19,391.30
17:09 19/04/24
FTSE 350
4,341.08
17:09 19/04/24
FTSE All-Share
4,296.41
17:08 19/04/24
FTSE Small Cap
6,331.12
17:04 19/04/24
General Industrials
6,848.65
17:10 19/04/24
General Retailers
3,864.64
17:09 19/04/24
Indivior
1,514.00p
16:40 19/04/24
Just Group
99.00p
16:35 19/04/24
Life Insurance
5,741.37
17:09 19/04/24
Next
8,774.00p
16:40 19/04/24
Pharmaceuticals & Biotechnology
21,247.91
17:09 19/04/24
Smurfit Kappa Group (CDI)
3,518.00p
16:40 19/04/24
Standard Chartered
666.80p
16:40 19/04/24
Travel & Leisure
7,521.61
17:10 19/04/24
The top flight index slipped 0.07% or 5.12 points to 7,487.96, while the pound was down 0.13% versus the dollar to 1.3264, having hit 1.3321 after the manufacturing data came out, and 0.05% firmer against the euro at 1.1411, albeit down from an intraday high of 1.1450.
Spreadex analyst Connor Campbell said: "October's PMI came in at 56.3 against the 55.8 forecast and the (revised) 56.0 seen in September. And though this didn’t cause anything resembling a sterling surge, it did allow the currency to maintain its early gains."
"It could be argued that this manufacturing beat gives the Bank of England hawks a bit more ammo heading into Thursday’s rate vote," he added.
With a PMI above 50 signalling growth, the manufacturing sector has been on the rise for 15 months in a row, according to Markit's figures.
Economists said the survey will reassure the Bank of England that the economy is coping relatively well with the prospect of imminently higher interest rates.
In a note to clients earlier, Craig Erlam at Oanda chipped in, "A growing number of policy makers now appear to be of the belief that last year's rate cut is no longer necessary and a return to the previous lower bound is warranted," adding, "Markets are heavily pricing in a rate hike tomorrow which may limit any upside in the pound in relation to this, with the accompanying commentary probably more important. With a split among policy makers being clear from recent commentary, a failure to hike tomorrow could trigger a sharp decline in the pound."
Total new order intakes rose at a substantial rate during October, according to the survey compiler, bouncing back from a weak prior month to put the manufacturing sector on a solid footing for at the start of the fourth quarter of the year.
In corporate news, Paddy Power Betfair rallied after it said trading was good in the third quarter, prompting the bookmaker to make a small upgrade to its annual profit guidance.
AstraZeneca was in the black after mixed news. The pharmaceuticals giant said the US Food and Drug Administration has granted accelerated approval to Calquence (acalabrutinib) - a kinase inhibitor indicated for the treatment of adult patients with mantle cell lymphoma who have received at least one prior therapy. However, the company also announced disappointing results for an asthma therapy it has been developing.
Irish packaging company Smurfit Kappa advanced as it posted a rise in third-quarter revenue and announced acquisitions in Greece and Russia to expand the group's footprint.
Indivior surged after the company's monthly treatment of opioid use disorder was recommended for approval by an advisory body to the US drug regulator.
Going the other way, Next was under the cosh after saying it continued to sustain declines in full price sales from its shops in the third quarter but thanks to strong online and catalogue growth the clothing retailer marched on towards its full year targets. Marks & Spencer and Primark owner Associated British Foods were also under pressure.
Standard Chartered was in the red after its posted adjusted pre-tax profit of $814m for the third quarter and operating income of $3.59bn, versus estimates of $3.64bn.
Retirement savings specialist Just Group ticked higher despite posting a drop in total sales for the third quarter.
In broker note action, Pagegroup was boosted by an upgrade to 'buy' at Panmure Gordon, while G4S gained as Jefferies bumped it up to 'buy' and InterContinental Hotels was lifted by an upgrade to 'outperform' at Credit Suisse.
Debenhams was hit by a downgrade to 'sell' at Liberum.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,487.96 -0.07%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,350.84 0.61%
techMARK (TASX) 3,543.70 0.49%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Paddy Power Betfair (PPB) 8,050.00p 4.48%
Glencore (GLEN) 375.55p 3.46%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,468.50p 3.42%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,407.00p 3.27%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,652.50p 2.93%
Smurfit Kappa Group (SKG) 2,308.00p 2.85%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 5,155.00p 2.44%
Persimmon (PSN) 2,859.00p 2.03%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 972.00p 1.83%
Aviva (AV.) 514.00p 1.78%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Next (NXT) 4,471.00p -9.14%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 705.00p -6.05%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 329.60p -4.21%
Admiral Group (ADM) 1,860.00p -3.33%
Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,378.00p -3.03%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 236.60p -2.43%
Centrica (CNA) 165.80p -2.36%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 6,584.00p -2.24%
Associated British Foods (ABF) 3,259.00p -2.19%
Convatec Group (CTEC) 191.80p -2.09%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Indivior (INDV) 400.30p 7.72%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 232.70p 5.58%
Elementis (ELM) 297.20p 4.54%
Drax Group (DRX) 289.80p 4.32%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 922.50p 3.89%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 263.70p 3.74%
Polymetal International (POLY) 906.50p 3.66%
Halma (HLMA) 1,223.00p 3.47%
Cairn Energy (CNE) 218.60p 3.41%
Bovis Homes Group (BVS) 1,213.00p 3.15%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Card Factory (CARD) 304.40p -3.03%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 279.90p -2.71%
Dixons Carphone (DC.) 169.00p -2.54%
Restaurant Group (RTN) 297.10p -2.17%
Dunelm Group (DNLM) 717.00p -2.05%
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 1,144.00p -1.72%
RPC Group (RPC) 927.50p -1.59%
Serco Group (SRP) 114.80p -1.54%
Intu Properties (INTU) 213.20p -1.30%
Inchcape (INCH) 771.50p -1.28%