London midday: FTSE flat in quiet holiday trade

(Sharecast News) - London stocks were steady by midday on Friday in very quiet trade, with no news of any note to move markets as most traders were still away from their desks for the Christmas and new year break. The FTSE 100 was flat at 8,135.72.

Data released earlier by restructuring firm Begbies Traynor showed that the number of UK retailers facing "critical" financial problems rose more than 25% in the last three months.

Begbies said there were 2,124 retailers in "critical financial distress" between October and 16 December, up from 1,696 between July and September. Still, this was a little lower than the 2,142 reported in the last quarter of 2023.

The increase was put down to subdued consumer confidence and rising costs.

Julie Palmer, a partner at Begbies Traynor, said: "This year has highlighted the resilience and adaptability of some UK retailers, but the sector remains under significant strain.

"Clearly, some retailers have found ways to manage financial pressures effectively, but others, particularly in general retail, are struggling under the weight of rising operational costs and squeezed consumer spending."

Corporate news was unsurprisingly scarce, but British Gas owner Centrica edged up as it announced the start of the £300m extension of its share buyback, which is due to be completed by the end of September 2025.

Shares in PC maker Raspberry Pi - which floaed on the London Stock Exchange in June - surged to the top of the FTSE 250 index.

Elsewhere, life science investor Syncona gained as it said its investment Achilles Therapeutics has sold technology assets to AstraZeneca for $12m (£9.58m). The deal involves transferring of the commercial license of data and samples from Achilles' TRACERx non-small cell lung cancer study to AstraZeneca, including samples and data.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 8,135.72 -0.01% FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,501.76 -0.34% techMARK (TASX) 4,609.48 -0.28%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Rentokil Initial (RTO) 400.10p 1.09% Centrica (CNA) 130.15p 0.89% Prudential (PRU) 638.40p 0.82% Pearson (PSON) 1,287.50p 0.70% Diageo (DGE) 2,515.00p 0.70% Barclays (BARC) 265.35p 0.68% BP (BP.) 383.75p 0.66% Smith (DS) (SMDS) 550.00p 0.64% HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 776.50p 0.58% Mondi (MNDI) 1,161.00p 0.56%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Next (NXT) 9,698.00p -1.50% Anglo American (AAL) 2,346.50p -1.47% Whitbread (WTB) 2,918.00p -1.39% Croda International (CRDA) 3,409.00p -1.25% Haleon (HLN) 378.00p -1.15% Severn Trent (SVT) 2,509.00p -1.10% Vodafone Group (VOD) 67.12p -0.94% National Grid (NG.) 935.40p -0.93% Melrose Industries (MRO) 546.40p -0.91% Smurfit Westrock (DI) (SWR) 4,271.00p -0.88%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Raspberry PI Holdings (RPI) 700.00p 17.06% W.A.G Payment Solutions (WPS) 82.80p 3.50% Ferrexpo (FXPO) 112.80p 3.11% Indivior (INDV) 989.00p 2.17% Kainos Group (KNOS) 789.00p 1.94% Baillie Gifford Japan Trust (BGFD) 714.00p 1.71% Bridgepoint Group (Reg S) (BPT) 360.60p 1.41% Vistry Group (VTY) 554.50p 1.28% Diversified Energy Company (DEC) 1,275.00p 1.27% JPMorgan Japanese Inv Trust (JFJ) 562.00p 1.26%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

AO World (AO.) 104.60p -3.15% Bakkavor Group (BAKK) 145.00p -3.01% Wood Group (John) (WG.) 63.80p -2.60% Moonpig Group (MOON) 209.00p -2.56% NCC Group (NCC) 145.40p -2.42% North Atlantic Smaller Companies Inv Trust (NAS) 3,680.00p -2.39% Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) 132.50p -2.07% TBC Bank Group (TBCG) 3,085.00p -1.91% Ninety One (N91) 144.50p -1.83% Rathbones Group (RAT) 1,662.00p -1.77%