London midday: Stocks turn lower amid Budget jitters, US election uncertainty

(Sharecast News) - London stocks had turned lower by midday on Wednesday as caution crept in ahead of next week's Budget and amid uncertainty over the US election. The FTSE 100 was down 0.4% at 8,275.47.

Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "Caution is reigning on financial markets amid growing expectations that borrowing costs might come down slower in the US, the world's largest economy, while political uncertainty and the threat of conflict spreading in the Middle East is also keeping investors a little more wary.

"The FTSE 100 has opened flat as speculation continues to swirl about the tax changes coming in the UK Budget. The result of the US Presidential election still looks to be on a knife-edge which will be playing on minds."

In equity markets, advertising giant WPP rallied after saying it returned to growth in the third quarter, as it reiterated its outlook for the year. Third-quarter like-for-like revenue less pass-through costs rose 0.5%, with reported revenue up 1.4% and LFL revenue up 4.1%.

Reckitt Benckiser was also in the black as the consumer goods giant's third-quarter like-for-like net sales growth beat estimates.

Barratt Redrow advanced as it highlighted "more stable" market conditions, said integration of the two businesses had begun "at pace" and that it expects to deliver cost synergies of at least £90m.

Lloyds gained as it reported a slight decline in statutory profits over the third quarter but still managed to beat consensus forecasts, as the banking group reiterated guidance for the full year. Statutory profit before tax totalled £1.82bn in the three months to 30 September, down 2% on last year but well ahead of the £1.6bn expected by analysts.

Hochschild shone as the precious metals miner maintained its full-year production guidance after reporting its strongest third quarter in nearly five years.

In broker note action, Ibstock was boosted by an upgrade to 'buy' from 'hold' at Jefferies, "given the current compelling demand-supply dynamic in the UK brick sector".

Volution was knocked lower as Davy downgraded its stance on the shares to 'neutral' from 'outperform'.

It said that while it's "very positive" on the Fantech deal and the overall outlook for Fantech, the stock now looks up with events, having risen more than 75% in the past year and more than 35% in the year to date.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 8,275.47 -0.37% FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,842.13 -0.51% techMARK (TASX) 4,740.90 -0.45%

FTSE 100 - Risers

WPP (WPP) 805.80p 4.16% Reckitt Benckiser Group (RKT) 4,917.00p 3.23% Barratt Redrow (BTRW) 483.20p 2.07% JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 136.65p 1.90% Rentokil Initial (RTO) 378.90p 1.85% Fresnillo (FRES) 778.00p 1.17% Smurfit Westrock (DI) (SWR) 3,455.00p 1.11% Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 62.60p 0.97% Flutter Entertainment (DI) (FLTR) 17,825.00p 0.73% SSE (SSE) 1,888.00p 0.45%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

3i Group (III) 3,314.00p -2.04% Intermediate Capital Group (ICG) 2,082.00p -1.89% Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,798.00p -1.72% InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 8,564.00p -1.72% Smiths Group (SMIN) 1,587.00p -1.61% Beazley (BEZ) 777.50p -1.52% IMI (IMI) 1,757.00p -1.51% M&G (MNG) 202.60p -1.51% Anglo American (AAL) 2,344.00p -1.49% British Land Company (BLND) 415.20p -1.47%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Hochschild Mining (HOC) 248.00p 6.44% Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 107.10p 2.88% VinaCapital Vietnam Opportunity Fund Ltd. (VOF) 460.50p 1.21% Trustpilot Group (TRST) 237.00p 1.07% Indivior (INDV) 671.50p 1.05% Future (FUTR) 864.00p 0.93% Ibstock (IBST) 197.20p 0.92% Baltic Classifieds Group (BCG) 323.50p 0.78% Centamin (DI) (CEY) 174.50p 0.75% Bluefield Solar Income Fund Limited (BSIF) 107.80p 0.75%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Volution Group (FAN) 575.00p -3.04% Ninety One (N91) 171.70p -2.94% Man Group (EMG) 203.60p -2.77% W.A.G Payment Solutions (WPS) 80.00p -2.44% Close Brothers Group (CBG) 371.20p -2.32% International Workplace Group (IWG) 168.60p -2.15% Abrdn (ABDN) 163.75p -2.09% RHI Magnesita N.V. (DI) (RHIM) 3,305.00p -2.07% Currys (CURY) 86.45p -1.98% Genuit Group (GEN) 492.50p -1.89%