London midday: FTSE slumps into red

28th Oct 2013 11:31

- FTSE in red by midday, trading hindered by storm- InterContinental Hotels leads slump- Consumer credit on rise for first time since recession techMARK 2,639.74 +0.02%FTSE 100 6,716.11 -0.08%FTSE 250 15,421.16 -0.45%The FTSE was in the red by midday, largely ignoring expectations that the Federal Reserve will maintain stimulus, which prompted gains in other parts of Europe, as a storm affected many parts of the UK. The losses were led by InterContinental Hotels Group, which slumped after Panmure Gordon reiterated a 'hold' rating as the company reported a weaker-than-expected third quarter trading update.The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is expected to be re-launched this week with reforms including splitting the lender into a 'good bank' and a 'bad bank'. The government is trying to find a way to make it easier for RBS to lend by splitting off billions of pounds of risky loans. Rothschild and BlackRock have been reviewing the proposal and the result is expected to be unveiled at Friday's earnings report.On the macro front, consumer credit rose in October for the first time since the recession, boosted by an improvement in confidence. According to a study by the EY ITEM Club, consumers are more prepared to take on credit than they have been in the five years since the crisis, helping to drive the economy towards improvement. The news indicates confidence in job security and UK economic prospects as a whole.Over in Asia, the Bank of Japan's Deputy Governor, Kikuo Iwata, reiterated the central bank's pledge to continue to buy bonds until it achieves its 2% inflation target. House prices climb 0.5% in October, Hometrack reveals Average UK asking house prices rose 0.5% in October on the previous month, boosted by higher buyer demand and a decline in the supply of houses. Hometrack, the property tracking firm, said Monday that the increase matched that seen in September, and represents the ninth monthly climb in prices. On the year, average prices were up 3.1%, up from 2.4% the prior month. Begbies Traynor has reported a decline in levels of 'critical' financial distress amongst UK businesses. The group's Red Flag Alert research, which looks at UK corporate financial health, saw a 2% fall in the number of businesses experiencing this level of financial trouble, which follows a 9% decline in the previous quarter. The UK CBI's reported sales balance dropped precipitously in October, to a reading of +2 from +34 (Consensus: +32). Meanwhile, it has also been reported that the number of females entering managing director roles has doubled over the past 12 months, meaning women now occupy 12% of such roles, according to Astbury Marsden, the financial services recruitment group. Aggreko tops leaders on full year expectationsTemporary power group Aggreko climbed into the top spot by lunch time after it said it expected full year profits to be in line with market expectations despite the absence of a one-off lift from the London Olympics.Also on the rise was Randgold Resources after boss Mark Bristow said the miner is exploring further opportunities in Cote d'Ivoire. Randgold owns and operates Côte d'Ivoire's largest gold mine at Tongon, which has achieved more than 600,000 ounces of gold since it started production at the end of 2010. Investors welcomed the news that security giant G4S has rejected a £1,550m offer from Charterhouse Capital Partners for its cash solutions business, saying that that the proposal "fundamentally undervalues the business and its prospects" and on the basis of its "strategic importance" to the company as a whole. Shire was also higher after both Goldman Sachs and Citigroup increased their target prices on the stocks following the pharmaceutical company's stellar results last week. Meanwhile, leading the fallers was InterContinental Hotels Group, which disappointed investors with the news that its revenue per available room (RevPAR) for its US and Americas brands in the nine months ended September 30th grew 4.5%, driven predominantly by a 2.9% increase in rates. Tullow Oil was also firmly lower after it temporarily suspended all operations in Block 10BB and Block 13T in Northern Kenya due to labour unrest. The company said its decision to suspend exploration and appraisal operations was taken to prevent further escalation of strikes while it tries to resolve the issue.FTSE 100 - RisersAggreko (AGK) 1,588.00p +4.68%Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 4,742.00p +2.22%AstraZeneca (AZN) 3,285.00p +1.12%Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 1,167.00p +1.04%Shire Plc (SHP) 2,805.00p +1.04%GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,619.50p +0.93%Associated British Foods (ABF) 2,152.00p +0.89%Whitbread (WTB) 3,402.00p +0.89%Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,538.50p +0.85%Croda International (CRDA) 2,618.00p +0.81%FTSE 100 - FallersInterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 1,821.00p -2.36%GKN (GKN) 365.50p -1.80%Tullow Oil (TLW) 961.50p -1.74%easyJet (EZJ) 1,308.00p -1.58%Severn Trent (SVT) 1,852.00p -1.54%Barclays (BARC) 263.90p -1.49%United Utilities Group (UU.) 709.00p -1.32%WPP (WPP) 1,327.00p -1.26%CRH (CRH) 1,495.00p -1.19%Aviva (AV.) 433.50p -1.16%FTSE 250 - RisersAL Noor Hospitals Group (ANH) 915.00p +2.98%Bank of Georgia Holdings (BGEO) 1,999.00p +1.94%Alent (ALNT) 348.10p +1.93%Booker Group (BOK) 149.30p +1.84%Caledonia Investments (CLDN) 1,951.00p +1.25%Playtech (PTEC) 755.00p +1.21%Informa (INF) 557.00p +1.18%Barratt Developments (BDEV) 337.70p +1.05%Telecom Plus (TEP) 1,533.00p +1.05%Paragon Group Of Companies (PAG) 332.50p +1.03%FTSE 250 - FallersITE Group (ITE) 302.50p -4.30%Diploma (DPLM) 663.00p -3.91%Essar Energy (ESSR) 119.90p -3.69%Countrywide (CWD) 565.00p -3.42%Thomas Cook Group (TCG) 141.70p -3.21%Regus (RGU) 203.20p -3.15%Phoenix Group Holdings (DI) (PHNX) 760.50p -3.12%Hochschild Mining (HOC) 167.10p -3.07%Carpetright (CPR) 603.00p -2.74%African Barrick Gold (ABG) 166.10p -2.47%FTSE TechMARK - RisersPuricore (PURI) 50.50p +8.60%Vislink (VLK) 49.00p +4.26%Consort Medical (CSRT) 894.00p +1.02%Anite (AIE) 87.00p +0.58%SDL (SDL) 256.50p +0.29%Skyepharma (SKP) 92.25p +0.27%IShares Euro Gov Bond 7-10YR UCITS ETF (IEGM) € 178.49 +0.04%FTSE TechMARK - FallersPhoenix IT Group (PNX) 145.00p -10.49%Ricardo (RCDO) 604.50p -3.90%Innovation Group (TIG) 31.50p -0.79%Wolfson Microelectronics (WLF) 146.25p -0.51%E2V Technologies (E2V) 144.00p -0.35%Sepura (SEPU) 146.00p -0.34%NR