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London midday: Stocks remain slightly lower as Reckitt weighs; investors pause for breath
London stocks were still just in the red by midday on Monday, weighed by Reckitt Benckiser as investors paused for breath after last week's solid gains.
Just before midday, the FTSE 100 was down 0.1% to 7,287.39, while the pound was flat against the dollar at 1.4027 and 0.1% lower versus the euro at 1.1296.
There are no major data releases due but Bank of England Governor Mark Carney will give a speech at Regents University at 1845 GMT.
Mike van Dulken, head of research at Accendo Markets, said: "Global equities are a shade offside to start the new week with holidays in Asia (Lunar New Year) and the US (Presidents' Day) reducing trading volumes.
"This means a pause for last week's global rebound. However, it may prove timely in terms of providing investors with a little more time to digest and decide - ahead of a busy corporate update roster including Anglo American, Barclays, BHP Billiton, Glencore, HSBC, IAG, Lloyds and RBS - whether the recovery merits another up-leg."
This week also sees the release of the UK unemployment rate and average earnings on Wednesday and GDP data on Thursday.
Investors were digesting the latest survey from Rightmove released earlier, which showed the average UK asking price rose 0.8% on the month in February following a 0.7% jump the month before. On the year, house prices were up 1.5% compared to a 1.1% increase in January.
Rightmove director Miles Shipside said: "This month's rise of 0.8% is well below the 1.6% monthly average at this time of year over the last 10 years, and it is wise for sellers to be cautious and not to over-price given stretched buyer affordability."
In corporate news, consumer goods group Reckitt Benckiser was under the cosh as it vowed to return to growth after reporting flat like-for-like sales for 2017.
Polymetal International slipped after it agreed to increase its stake in the Russian Prognoz silver property to 50% from 5% for $72m to be paid in Polymetal shares.
James Fisher was a little weaker after saying it had bought Australian recompression chamber maker Cowan Manufacturing for AUD $2.6m (£1.5m) in cash.
AstraZeneca ticked lower after it and MedImmune, its global biologics research and development arm, announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Imfinzi for the treatment of patients with unresectable Stage III non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), whose disease has not progressed following concurrent platinum-based chemotherapy and radiation therapy (CRT).
On the upside, Spectris rallied as it posted a 12% increase in full-year pre-tax profit and a 13% rise in revenue, while Fidessa racked up strong gains after saying full-year pre-tax profit and revenue rose 2% and 7%, respectively.
Retailer N Brown advanced after announcing that Matt Davies, Tesco's UK and Ireland boss, will succeed Andrew Higginson as its chairman.
FTSE 250 merchanting and DIY group Grafton rose after announcing the acquisition of London-based independent specialist decorators' merchant Leyland SDM for £82.4m on a debt-free, cash-free basis.
Saga also gained after saying it has appointed Patrick O'Sullivan as chairman with effect from 1 May.
In broker note action, Kier was initiated at 'buy' by Stifel, while AA was downgraded to 'sell' by Berenberg.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,287.39 -0.10%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,740.04 0.03%
techMARK (TASX) 3,321.21 -0.01%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Evraz (EVR) 404.10p 2.41%
Standard Life Aberdeen (SLA) 370.27p 1.67%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 615.75p 1.27%
Tesco (TSCO) 207.00p 1.17%
Barclays (BARC) 202.15p 1.05%
Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 223.10p 1.04%
Next (NXT) 4,959.00p 0.77%
BP (BP.) 477.00p 0.76%
Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 1,693.50p 0.68%
Imperial Brands (IMB) 2,675.50p 0.68%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 6,205.00p -5.53%
Shire Plc (SHP) 3,145.00p -1.78%
Micro Focus International (MCRO) 2,089.00p -1.37%
WPP (WPP) 1,451.00p -1.36%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 6,228.00p -1.24%
Just Eat (JE.) 879.20p -1.21%
Halma (HLMA) 1,210.00p -1.06%
DCC (DCC) 6,635.00p -1.04%
Smith (DS) (SMDS) 478.80p -1.01%
TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 1,539.50p -0.93%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Fidessa Group (FDSA) 2,772.50p 6.43%
Vectura Group (VEC) 82.30p 4.11%
Virgin Money Holdings (UK) (VM.) 271.10p 3.91%
Cairn Energy (CNE) 189.87p 3.47%
Spectris (SXS) 2,730.00p 3.14%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 180.00p 2.51%
BGEO Group (BGEO) 3,402.00p 2.29%
Merlin Entertainments (MERL) 350.00p 2.22%
Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 1,212.00p 2.19%
Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 423.80p 2.12%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Sophos Group (SOPH) 507.85p -4.63%
McCarthy & Stone (MCS) 142.30p -4.50%
TalkTalk Telecom Group (TALK) 102.60p -3.48%
AA (AA.) 115.15p -2.95%
Acacia Mining (ACA) 159.37p -2.20%
Marshalls (MSLH) 408.40p -1.69%
SSP Group (SSPG) 618.00p -1.67%
Bodycote (BOY) 920.00p -1.60%
Purecircle Limited (DI) (PURE) 436.00p -1.58%
Indivior (INDV) 377.20p -1.51%