London midday: FTSE drifts lower in quiet trade

(Sharecast News) - London stocks had drifted lower in quiet trade by midday on Monday, with little in the way of corporate of macro news to provide direction. The FTSE 100 was down 0.2% at 7,561.51.

There are no data points of note due, but on Tuesday, investors will be eyeing the UK unemployment rate and average earnings, and the consumer price index for January in the US.

Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown, said "there's a bit of a lack of direction with many Asian exchanges having closed for holidays".

"There is likely to be a fair amount of treading water going on as investors wait for fresh clues about the trajectory of inflation and the implications for interest rate policy. There's a roll call of central bankers lining up to speak, as the latest consumer price snapshots on both sides of the Atlantic are due to be published mid-week and investors assess just how quickly the UK jobs market is slowing down," she added.

In equity markets, UK Commercial Property REIT rallied after Tritax Big Box said it had agreed terms on a possible bid for the company in an all-share deal worth £924m.

Tritax said it had offered 0.444 new Tritax shares for every UKCP share, leaving it with 76.7% of the merged group and UKCM shareholders with the remainder.

It represents a 10.8% premium to UKCP's closing share price of 64.2 pence per share on February 9.

Mike Ashley's Frasers Group advanced as it announced the start of an £80m share buyback up to April 28.

Travel food outlet operator SSP Group gained after agreeing to buy Airport Retail Enterprises in Australia for an undisclosed sum.

Ashmore was under the cosh as JPMorgan reiterated its 'underweight' rating on the shares and trimmed the price target, saying the re-rating has gone too far.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,561.51 -0.15% FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,142.82 0.42% techMARK (TASX) 4,406.52 0.10%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Ocado Group (OCDO) 545.80p 6.35% Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,315.50p 3.50% Frasers Group (FRAS) 810.50p 3.45% Fresnillo (FRES) 489.30p 2.64% Endeavour Mining (EDV) 1,312.00p 2.02% Anglo American (AAL) 1,734.80p 1.89% Pershing Square Holdings Ltd NPV (PSH) 4,004.00p 1.57% Entain (ENT) 1,026.00p 1.53% Land Securities Group (LAND) 637.80p 1.50% Glencore (GLEN) 390.65p 1.45%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 307.40p -3.36% NATWEST GROUP (NWG) 205.70p -2.37% Intertek Group (ITRK) 4,385.00p -1.84% AstraZeneca (AZN) 9,598.00p -1.67% Croda International (CRDA) 4,896.00p -1.49% Melrose Industries (MRO) 594.20p -1.46% HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 602.40p -1.16% GSK (GSK) 1,644.40p -0.94% WPP (WPP) 773.40p -0.87% Compass Group (CPG) 2,208.00p -0.85%

FTSE 250 - Risers

UK Commercial Property Reit Limited (UKCM) 67.50p 5.14% Watches of Switzerland Group (WOSG) 412.20p 4.67% Jupiter Fund Management (JUP) 83.05p 4.60% Future (FUTR) 734.50p 4.04% PZ Cussons (PZC) 103.40p 3.71% TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 566.50p 3.28% Dr. Martens (DOCS) 87.50p 3.12% Tritax Eurobox (GBP) (EBOX) 50.00p 3.09% SDCL Energy Efficiency Income Trust (SEIT) 56.30p 2.55% Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 175.40p 2.45%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Ashmore Group (ASHM) 220.80p -3.83% Tritax Big Box Reit (BBOX) 155.60p -2.87% Baltic Classifieds Group (BCG) 229.50p -1.92% BBGI Global Infrastructure S.A. NPV (DI) (BBGI) 121.40p -1.78% Diversified Energy Company (DEC) 908.00p -1.25% Jlen Environmental Assets Group Limited NPV (JLEN) 97.80p -1.21% TBC Bank Group (TBCG) 2,910.00p -1.02% The Renewables Infrastructure Group Limited (TRIG) 100.20p -0.99% Bodycote (BOY) 617.00p -0.96% Apax Global Alpha Limited (APAX) 151.60p -0.92%