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London midday: Stocks tread water ahead of US earnings

By Michele Maatouk

Date: Tuesday 19 Oct 2021

London midday: Stocks tread water ahead of US earnings

(Sharecast News) - London stocks were still treading water by midday on Tuesday amid worries about rate hikes and as investors refrained from making any big bets either way ahead of key US earnings.
The FTSE 100 was flat at 7,207.66.

Neil Wilson, chief market analyst at Markets.com, said: "European stocks are flat in early trade as risk remains on watch for a range of factors, including earnings, inflation and expectations central banks will tighten the screw.

"Also worrying markets are central banks - the Bank of England has put the cat among the pigeons with its hawkish talk, nudging markets to price in some hikes in the next year that just weren't expected a few weeks ago."

Wilson also pointed there are "some big names reporting earnings today, including Netflix, United Airlines, and Tesla".

In UK equity markets, British Airways and Iberia owner IAG was the worst performer on the FTSE 100 after a downgrade to 'hold' from 'buy' at Berenberg.

Gambling firm 888 was on the back foot as it said it will take a $10m hit to profits after its Dutch business stopped operations from the start of October because of changes to gaming rules.

On the upside, Pearson was sitting pretty at the top of the FTSE 100 after an upgrade to 'hold' from 'sell' at Berenberg and an upgrade to 'neutral' from 'underperform' at Credit Suisse.

Hikma rose after an upgrade to 'overweight' at Morgan Stanley.

Elsewhere, Bellway advanced after the housebuilder increased its final dividend by almost two-thirds as it reported a 72% increase in annual profit and a solid order book.

Online price comparison platform Moneysupermarket.com surged after announcing the acquisition of consumer cashback website Quidco for up to £101m.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,207.66 0.05%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 23,020.99 0.23%
techMARK (TASX) 4,528.32 -0.27%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Pearson (PSON) 637.00p 3.54%
Polymetal International (POLY) 1,370.50p 2.01%
Fresnillo (FRES) 880.20p 1.99%
Evraz (EVR) 640.60p 1.75%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 5,087.00p 1.70%
BHP Group (BHP) 2,020.50p 1.66%
Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 1,530.50p 1.46%
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 2,377.00p 1.24%
Tesco (TSCO) 272.80p 1.22%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 157.30p 1.22%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 169.30p -3.65%
Entain (ENT) 2,089.00p -1.65%
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 4,974.00p -1.47%
Associated British Foods (ABF) 1,790.00p -1.30%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 687.60p -1.26%
Flutter Entertainment (CDI) (FLTR) 14,200.00p -1.25%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 141.08p -1.09%
Smurfit Kappa Group (CDI) (SKG) 3,637.00p -1.03%
Schroders (SDR) 3,540.00p -1.01%
Legal & General Group (LGEN) 273.60p -0.98%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Moneysupermarket.com Group (MONY) 220.80p 8.77%
RHI Magnesita N.V. (DI) (RHIM) 3,180.00p 7.65%
Vesuvius (VSVS) 470.20p 4.58%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 148.80p 4.20%
Baltic Classifieds Group (BCG) 227.00p 4.13%
Diversified Energy Company (DEC) 116.60p 3.74%
AO World (AO.) 153.20p 3.37%
Darktrace (DARK) 900.50p 2.91%
Wood Group (John) (WG.) 231.30p 2.80%
Network International Holdings (NETW) 348.80p 2.71%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 248.30p -3.76%
IP Group (IPO) 124.20p -3.12%
888 Holdings (888) 404.80p -2.69%
easyJet (EZJ) 615.40p -1.85%
Mediclinic International (MDC) 337.00p -1.81%
Harbour Energy (HBR) 388.40p -1.62%
LXI Reit (LXI) 145.80p -1.49%
Softcat (SCT) 2,066.00p -1.34%
Premier Foods (PFD) 110.60p -1.25%
PureTech Health (PRTC) 357.50p -1.24%

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