London midday: Stocks flat ahead of Trump-Putin talks
By Michele Maatouk
Date: Friday 15 Aug 2025
(Sharecast News) - London stocks had pared gains to trade flat by midday on Friday as investors eyed talks between Donald Trump and Russia's Vladimir Putin in Alaska, as the US president looks to put an end to the Ukraine war.
The FTSE 100 was steady at 9,181.25 in quiet trade, having hit fresh intraday highs earlier in the session.
Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: "It is not often that the market's attention is centred on Alaska but the US state will be firmly in focus on Friday as President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin meet to discuss the Ukraine conflict.
"Any outcomes will not come until after UK markets have concluded trading for the day but investors will be watching closely for signs a credible peace deal is in the offing and any outcomes could set the mood music for next week.
"Oil prices have been somewhat volatile ahead of the summit as traders seek to work out if Russian exports to Western countries might resume.
"Broadly markets seemed in an optimistic mood with the FTSE 100 making new intra-day record highs early on. The miners were in demand despite weak economic data from key commodities consumer China - in the hope this might persuade Beijing to launch further stimulus measures."
There were no major corporate or macroeconomic releases in the UK as the summer lull well and truly set in.
In the US, however, retail sales, industrial production and export/import prices are due, along with the University of Michigan sentiment index.
Before that, investors turned their attention to China, where a trio of leading economic indicators came in below estimates.
Industrial production grew at a year-on-year rate of 5.7% last month, down from 6.8% in June, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.
This was below the 5.9% increase expected by economists and the slowest rate registered since November 2024, as manufacturing activity was dampened by flooding across the country and a record-breaking heatwave.
Retail sales also disappointed, rising by just 3.7% over last year, down from 4.8% growth in June. This came in well below the 4.6% increase expected by the market, with growth slowing to its lowest since December 2024.
Meanwhile, fixed asset investment statistics showed just a 1.6% year-on-year increase over the January to July period, slowing markedly from the 2.8% growth registered over the first six months of the year. The consensus estimate was 2.7%.
In equity markets, there was an unsurprising dearth of news, given the time of year.
Heavily-weighted miners were the best performers, with Anglo American, Glencore, Antofagasta and Rio Tinto all higher.
Kingsmill owner Associated British Foods ticked up after saying it has agreed to buy Hovis Group from private equity firm Endless. ABF did not disclose any financial details, but Sky News has suggested a price tag of around £75m.
Bytes Technology jumped to the top of the FTSE 250 as it announced a share buyback of up to £25m.
Outside the FTSE 350, Martin Sorrell's S4 Capital was in focus after MSQ Partners ruled out a potential merger with the ad company.
In a brief statement on Thursday, the company said it had been "surprised" by the speculation and recent announcement regarding a potential merger with S4 Capital.
S4 announced on Monday that it had received a proposal from MSQ, a creative and technology agency owned by One Equity Partners, about a possible combination. If agreed, it said, the possible combination would be structured as an acquisition of MSQ by S4 Capital and not an offer under the takeover code for S4 Capital by MSQ.
But MSQ said on Thursday that its board of directors has not been involved in discussions regarding, or considered any proposal with S4 Capital.
"While speculative informal conversations form part of the investor community and MSQ understands that such discussions may have taken place between representatives of One Equity Partners (OEP), MSQ's majority shareholder, and S4 Capital, for the avoidance of doubt, neither OEP nor MSQ intend to pursue further discussions regarding the rumoured transaction," MSQ said.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 9,181.25 0.04%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 21,874.02 0.33%
techMARK (TASX) 5,271.63 -0.06%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Anglo American (AAL) 2,194.00p 3.34%
Glencore (GLEN) 302.50p 2.72%
DCC (CDI) (DCC) 4,832.00p 2.46%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 2,134.00p 1.81%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 4,549.50p 1.53%
Mondi (MNDI) 1,081.00p 1.36%
Games Workshop Group (GAW) 15,690.00p 1.36%
BP (BP.) 419.25p 1.26%
Hiscox Limited (DI) (HSX) 1,330.00p 1.22%
ICG (ICG) 2,198.00p 1.10%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Smurfit Westrock (DI) (SWR) 3,183.00p -2.78%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 1,075.00p -2.41%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 4,179.00p -1.39%
BAE Systems (BA.) 1,752.00p -1.30%
Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 3,840.00p -1.13%
Rightmove (RMV) 768.80p -1.11%
BT Group (BT.A) 211.70p -1.07%
3i Group (III) 4,031.00p -0.89%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,395.50p -0.82%
CRH (CDI) (CRH) 8,274.00p -0.77%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Bytes Technology Group (BYIT) 389.00p 7.64%
Auction Technology Group (ATG) 354.50p 5.82%
Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 1,377.00p 2.84%
Balfour Beatty (BBY) 573.00p 2.32%
Energean (ENOG) 931.00p 2.20%
ICG Enterprise Trust (ICGT) 1,488.00p 2.06%
Future (FUTR) 759.00p 2.02%
Bridgepoint Group (Reg S) (BPT) 345.00p 1.95%
Harbour Energy (HBR) 230.80p 1.85%
Petershill Partners (PHLL) 236.00p 1.72%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Avon Technologies (AVON) 1,984.00p -3.45%
QinetiQ Group (QQ.) 477.40p -2.01%
Close Brothers Group (CBG) 521.00p -1.61%
NCC Group (NCC) 140.20p -1.54%
Chemring Group (CHG) 532.00p -1.30%
Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) 209.80p -1.22%
Fidelity Emerging Markets Limited Ptg NPV (FEML) 840.00p -1.06%
IP Group (IPO) 58.90p -1.01%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 367.30p -1.00%
Kier Group (KIE) 209.00p -0.95%
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