London midday: Stocks stay down as BoE hikes rates to 5%

(Sharecast News) - London stocks were still firmly in the red by midday on Thursday after the Bank of England hiked interest rates by 50 basis points. The FTSE 100 was down 0.9% at 7,488.29.

The BoE lifted rates to 5%, in what marked the thirteenth increase in a row. Analysts had widely been expecting a 25 basis points hike, although the inflation data released on Wednesday had sparked some expectations of a bigger rise.

The Monetary Policy Committee voted 7-2 for the rate hike.

Alex Livingstone, head of trading and FX at Titan Asset Management, said: "This decision comes off the back of a resilient unchanged inflation print yesterday, with core inflation rising to 7.1%.

"However, with terminal rates now being priced at over 6% the question at the front of investors' minds will now be to question the impact of this latest hike on the housing market and subsequent UK economic growth."

In equity markets, Airtel Africa, United Utilities, 3i Group, British Land, Mitie, Tate & Lyle and Discoverie all fell as they traded without entitlement to the dividend.

Premier Inn owner Whitbread lost ground even as it posted a jump in first-quarter sales and said consumer demand in the UK has remained strong.

On the upside, online supermarket Ocado rocketed amid speculation it could be a takeover target for Amazon.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,488.29 -0.94% FTSE 250 (MCX) 18,433.78 -0.74% techMARK (TASX) 4,479.08 -0.98%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Ocado Group (OCDO) 554.00p 28.84% Croda International (CRDA) 5,400.00p 1.54% JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 148.60p 1.50% Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,494.50p 1.29% Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 3,897.00p 1.19% Kingfisher (KGF) 229.20p 1.15% B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 571.80p 0.67% Haleon (HLN) 323.65p 0.31% Imperial Brands (IMB) 1,759.50p 0.28% Diageo (DGE) 3,314.50p 0.27%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Airtel Africa (AAF) 112.10p -6.11% United Utilities Group (UU.) 997.40p -3.77% Auto Trader Group (AUTO) 592.40p -2.82% Flutter Entertainment (CDI) (FLTR) 15,605.00p -2.47% Barclays (BARC) 147.96p -2.31% Fresnillo (FRES) 610.20p -2.27% Experian (EXPN) 2,850.00p -2.26% Tesco (TSCO) 252.80p -2.24% DCC (CDI) (DCC) 4,440.00p -2.16% Centrica (CNA) 117.90p -2.08%

FTSE 250 - Risers

NCC Group (NCC) 90.30p 3.79% Synthomer (SYNT) 74.40p 3.48% Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 192.25p 2.45% Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 328.40p 1.67% Ferrexpo (FXPO) 88.65p 1.60% Apax Global Alpha Limited (APAX) 180.00p 1.12% Hilton Food Group (HFG) 654.00p 1.08% Urban Logistics Reit (SHED) 120.60p 1.01% Quilter (QLT) 80.50p 1.00% Wood Group (John) (WG.) 128.00p 0.95%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Virgin Money UK (VMUK) 147.20p -4.42% British Land Company (BLND) 314.80p -4.37% Dr. Martens (DOCS) 122.40p -3.09% Tate & Lyle (TATE) 737.50p -2.83% Babcock International Group (BAB) 296.80p -2.82% Trainline (TRN) 248.00p -2.75% Premier Foods (PFD) 130.40p -2.69% Kainos Group (KNOS) 1,276.00p -2.60% Bytes Technology Group (BYIT) 511.50p -2.57% Energean (ENOG) 1,080.00p -2.44%