London midday: Ebola fears, macro concerns hit UK stocks

8th Oct 2014 11:34

Fears about a possible Ebola outbreak in Europe and continued concerns about the global economy were weighing on UK stocks on Wednesday.The FTSE 100 was down 0.3% at 6,475 by around midday with cyclical stocks and airlines providing a drag.Risk appetite was also being held back by nervousness ahead of the start of earnings season in the States and the minutes of the latest Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting later on. Investors will be watching the FOMC minutes closely amid speculation about when the first hike in interest rates will come after the end of quantitative easing (QE).Speaking in New York on Tuesday, the head of the New York Federal Reserve said that forecasts for a mid-2015 rate hike are "reasonable". William Dudley said: "The consensus view is that lift-off will take place around the middle of next year. That seems like a reasonable view to me."European stocks fell on Tuesday after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) downgraded its growth forecast for the global economy and industrial production data from Germany showed a worse-than-expected decline."The IMF laid it on pretty thick yesterday, citing everything from Eurozone stagnation to Ebola for weakening forecasts and topped it off with the cherry that global growth may never reach its pre-crisis levels ever again," said dealer Jonathan Sudaria from Capital Spreads."In the short term at least, it appears that traders have also come to the same conclusion as there is no apparent let up in the selling pressure this morning," he said.Cyclicals and travel stocks fallCyclical names such as engineers GKN, IMI and Weir Group were among the worst performers in on the FTSE 100 as fears about global growth weighed on sentiment. GKN was also falling sharply after Bank of America Merrill Lynch cut the stock from 'buy' to 'underperform'.Airlines and travel tour operators were also unwanted as the threat of an Ebola outbreak in Spain spread fear amongst investors. Easyjet, IAG, Carnival and TUI Travel were all in the red.Supermarket group Tesco was continuing to bounce back after recent weakness with HSBC providing a lift after upgrading the stock from 'neutral' to 'overweight'. The bank said that much of the recent bad news is already discounted in the stock price.Bargain-hunting was also helping the stock of rivals J Sainsbury and Wm Morrison higher.However, the wider retail sector was under pressure after the news that UK high-street deflation worsened in September with shop prices down for the 17th straight month. Debenhams, Home Retail, Marks & Spencer and Primark owner AB Foods were all trading lower.Bus and train operator Firstgroup was lower after failing to keep its Scotrail franchise from April next year. The group has already lost its First Capital Connect London commuter franchise and failed in a bid to run London-Scotland sleeper trains. Market MoverstechMARK 2,719.96 -1.00%FTSE 100 6,474.63 -0.32%FTSE 250 14,933.64 -1.10%FTSE 100 - RisersPetrofac Ltd. (PFC) 976.50p +1.51%Intu Properties (INTU) 316.50p +1.22%Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 232.60p +1.04%Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 2,679.00p +0.79%ITV (ITV) 206.00p +0.78%Tesco (TSCO) 183.90p +0.71%Pearson (PSON) 1,194.00p +0.59%Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 2,371.50p +0.57%SSE (SSE) 1,518.00p +0.53%Vodafone Group (VOD) 207.15p +0.53%FTSE 100 - FallersAshtead Group (AHT) 937.50p -4.04%GKN (GKN) 295.00p -3.41%Tullow Oil (TLW) 582.50p -3.00%IMI (IMI) 1,147.00p -2.55%TUI Travel (TT.) 372.80p -2.41%Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 2,808.00p -2.30%Aggreko (AGK) 1,477.00p -2.12%Experian (EXPN) 934.50p -2.10%ARM Holdings (ARM) 850.50p -1.96%Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,005.00p -1.95%FTSE 250 - RisersInterserve (IRV) 610.50p +3.83%Stock Spirits Group (STCK) 310.20p +1.70%Lonmin (LMI) 173.30p +1.64%Rexam (REX) 484.20p +1.57%Man Group (EMG) 117.40p +1.47%Daejan Holdings (DJAN) 4,918.00p +1.09%COLT Group SA (COLT) 130.70p +1.08%Infinis Energy (INFI) 227.00p +0.89%Regus (RGU) 169.20p +0.83%esure Group (ESUR) 226.50p +0.53%FTSE 250 - FallersSpirent Communications (SPT) 70.30p -8.82%RPS Group (RPS) 233.50p -4.30%Balfour Beatty (BBY) 161.60p -4.04%Ocado Group (OCDO) 232.00p -4.01%Just Eat (JE.) 283.30p -4.00%Diploma (DPLM) 667.00p -3.68%Ophir Energy (OPHR) 214.70p -3.64%FirstGroup (FGP) 111.20p -3.39%PayPoint (PAY) 962.50p -3.27%Rightmove (RMV) 2,006.00p -3.04%