London midday: Stocks maintain gains ahead of Powell speech

(Sharecast News) - London stocks had maintained gains by midday on Friday as investors eyed a speech by Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell at Jackson Hole. The FTSE 100 was up 0.3% at 8,312.92.

Dan Coatsworth, investment analyst at AJ Bell, said: "The FTSE 100 ticked higher on Friday, gradually clawing its way back towards the all-time highs it made in May.

"The progress of the index was largely driven by natural resources stocks and came despite some weakness on Wall Street overnight. Hopes of a blockbuster 50 basis points first rate cut from the Federal Reserve in September are receding ahead of chair Jerome Powell's address to the Jackson Hole Symposium later today.

"Tech shares were worst affected in the selling on Wall Street on Thursday, although the movements paled into insignificance compared with the volatility seen earlier in the summer.

"The markets will be looking for Powell to provide clues not just on the Fed's next meeting in September but also for the remainder of the year and into 2025.

"Like the support act for Taylor Swift coming out second, Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey has the tough slot of following Powell at Jackson Hole, but he may, nonetheless, provide some important insights on the likely trajectory of rates on this side of the Atlantic."

On home shores, a survey out earlier from GfK showed that consumer confidence remained stable in August, as improving sentiment towards personal finances was offset by the first fall in economic expectations in six months.

The GfK Consumer Confidence Barometer came in at -13, in line with the July reading and up from -25 in August of last year.

Three of the five sub-indices of the survey measuring people's personal finances improved in August while two measuring sentiment towards the economic environment worsened.

Notably, the sub-index measuring sentiment towards people's personal financial situation over the next 12 months jumped by three points to +6, which GfK client strategy director Joe Staton said could be due to the recent Bank of England interest-rate cut "and hopes of more to come".

Meanwhile, the major purchase index, which tracks the public's confidence in making major purchases such as furniture or electrical goods, improved to -13 from -16.

"The three-point jump in the major purchase index is great news for retailers with more shoppers agreeing that now is a good time to buy big-ticket items," Staton said.

However, two sub-indices measuring consumers' views on the economic situation both declined further into negative territory, with economic sentiment for the coming year falling four points to -15 - the first drop since February.

Nevertheless, Staton said that all the key numbers this month are "significantly more encouraging" than 12 and 24 months ago. "But as we move into autumn and winter, how much further will this slow improvement in the mood of the nation run?"

In equity markets, Direct Line fell after saying it had made a miscalculation in its 2023 Solvency II own funds. It said the solvency capital ratio at the end of 2023 was 188%, down from 197% but still above its risk appetite range of 140% to 180%.

Melrose Industries slumped after a downgrade to 'sell' from 'buy' by UBS.

Elsewhere, Evoke - formerly 888 - rose as it announced the acquisition of New Gambling Solutions (NGS), the operator of Winner.ro, which an online betting and gaming operator in Romania.

Hiscox was in focus as it announced the appointment of senior independent director Colin Keogh as interim chair following the death of Jonathan Bloomer earlier in the week in the sinking of the Bayesian.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 8,312.92 0.30% FTSE 250 (MCX) 21,128.85 0.11% techMARK (TASX) 4,866.16 0.11%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Fresnillo (FRES) 553.50p 1.75% Airtel Africa (AAF) 114.40p 1.60% Croda International (CRDA) 4,016.00p 1.57% Pershing Square Holdings Ltd NPV (PSH) 3,662.00p 1.38% Diageo (DGE) 2,536.50p 1.38% Kingfisher (KGF) 285.20p 1.13% Smurfit Westrock (DI) (SWR) 3,387.00p 1.10% B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 443.80p 1.09% Severn Trent (SVT) 2,503.00p 1.09% Glencore (GLEN) 409.40p 1.01%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Melrose Industries (MRO) 480.90p -5.89% Admiral Group (ADM) 2,924.00p -0.91% BAE Systems (BA.) 1,305.50p -0.87% Sage Group (SGE) 1,008.50p -0.79% NATWEST GROUP (NWG) 342.60p -0.67% Beazley (BEZ) 755.50p -0.53% Diploma (DPLM) 4,348.00p -0.46% Relx plc (REL) 3,504.00p -0.45% Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 495.80p -0.36% Haleon (HLN) 371.10p -0.35%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Ithaca Energy (ITH) 126.70p 2.34% Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 151.60p 2.09% Bank of Georgia Group (BGEO) 4,410.00p 1.85% Ninety One (N91) 166.50p 1.71% OSB Group (OSB) 391.20p 1.66% Endeavour Mining (EDV) 1,656.00p 1.60% St James's Place (STJ) 717.00p 1.56% Investec (INVP) 563.00p 1.53% Auction Technology Group (ATG) 423.00p 1.44% Watches of Switzerland Group (WOSG) 410.00p 1.38%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Hays (HAS) 95.55p -1.90% Direct Line Insurance Group (DLG) 185.60p -1.80% JPMorgan Japanese Inv Trust (JFJ) 543.00p -1.45% Renishaw (RSW) 3,580.00p -1.38% Bakkavor Group (BAKK) 153.00p -1.29% Worldwide Healthcare Trust (WWH) 361.00p -1.10% Chemring Group (CHG) 395.50p -1.00% Murray International Trust (MYI) 250.50p -0.99% BlackRock Greater Europe Inv Trust (BRGE) 603.00p -0.99% Mitchells & Butlers (MAB) 305.50p -0.97%