London midday: Stocks dip as banks take a hit; Nvidia earnings eyed

(Sharecast News) - London stocks had nudged into the red by midday on Wednesday as investors eyed results from US chip maker Nvidia. The FTSE 100 was down 0.1% at 8,336.60.

Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "Investors are to some extent in wait-and-see mood ahead of the hotly anticipated results from tech superstar Nvidia, due out later.

"The chip giant is again expected to demonstrate that it's firing on all cylinders, with another round of blockbuster numbers expected, fuelled by accelerating demand for its AI focused computing platforms. But a lot will also be riding on the outlook and guidance from the firm, with some uncertainty swirling about just how long it will be before rapacious appetite for its products is sated."

In equity markets, banks were under the cosh amid speculation of a potential windfall tax on the sector. NatWest, Barclays and Lloyds were all down after the Financial Times cited a former senior Whitehall official as saying that banks could be targeted in the October budget. The FT said the official suggested a levy could raise several billions of pounds.

Precious metals producer Hochschild Mining slumped. The company reiterated its output guidance despite operations at its newly opened Mara Rosa mine running slowly, as it swung into profit for the first half on the back of rising commodity prices, lower costs and a reduction in impairment charges.

GSK gained as it said the Delaware Supreme Court would review a previous decision allowing expert evidence in the Zantac litigation - an important step in the company's defence against claims that the drug causes cancer.

Prudential reversed earlier losses to trade up as it said it was on track to hit its medium-term profit targets after a solid first half, and announced an acceleration in sales momentum since the period-end.

New business profit totalled $1.47bn in the six months to 30 June, which was 8% higher than last year when excluding the effect of interest rate and other economic impacts.

While this was down from the "exceptional" growth of 47% in the last financial year, the group reiterated its target of achieving a compound annual growth rate for new business profit of 15-20% by 2027.

In broker note action, Direct Line was boosted by an upgrade to 'buy' at Citi, which said it doesn't agree with the recent selloff in the share price, which is down around 12% since the end of May.

B&Q owner Kingfisher was knocked lower by a downgrade to 'neutral' by the same outfit, however, which cited limited scope for near-term upgrades.

Watches of Switzerland fell after a downgrade to 'neutral' by BNP Paribas Exane.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 8,336.60 -0.11% FTSE 250 (MCX) 21,114.21 -0.23% techMARK (TASX) 4,902.41 0.45%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 2,786.00p 1.60% GSK (GSK) 1,642.50p 1.51% Aviva (AV.) 505.00p 1.41% Experian (EXPN) 3,665.00p 1.33% Halma (HLMA) 2,571.00p 1.30% Prudential (PRU) 670.40p 1.21% Rentokil Initial (RTO) 486.80p 1.21% Croda International (CRDA) 4,102.00p 1.16% BAE Systems (BA.) 1,335.00p 1.14% Haleon (HLN) 375.80p 1.08%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

NATWEST GROUP (NWG) 333.70p -4.49% Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,834.50p -3.98% Barclays (BARC) 223.10p -3.08% Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 57.42p -3.01% Fresnillo (FRES) 539.00p -2.80% Kingfisher (KGF) 280.10p -2.34% Anglo American (AAL) 2,239.50p -1.73% Glencore (GLEN) 404.50p -1.46% Shell (SHEL) 2,687.00p -1.39% Rio Tinto (RIO) 4,753.00p -1.27%

FTSE 250 - Risers

PureTech Health (PRTC) 168.60p 2.18% Renishaw (RSW) 3,550.00p 1.87% Investec (INVP) 585.00p 1.39% Genus (GNS) 1,726.00p 1.29% C&C Group (CDI) (CCR) 158.00p 1.28% Direct Line Insurance Group (DLG) 189.00p 1.23% Helios Towers (HTWS) 117.60p 1.20% Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 1,352.00p 1.12% RS Group (RS1) 772.50p 0.98% Kainos Group (KNOS) 1,100.00p 0.92%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Hochschild Mining (HOC) 182.00p -6.19% OSB Group (OSB) 371.00p -4.63% RHI Magnesita N.V. (DI) (RHIM) 3,360.00p -4.55% Watches of Switzerland Group (WOSG) 396.60p -3.13% Ithaca Energy (ITH) 129.30p -2.78% Harbour Energy (HBR) 295.40p -2.60% Baltic Classifieds Group (BCG) 275.00p -2.14% Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 145.20p -2.02% HarbourVest Global Private Equity Limited A Shs (HVPE) 2,485.00p -1.97% Diversified Energy Company (DEC) 929.50p -1.90%