London midday: FTSE stays down as HSBC, Reckitt disappoint
27th Oct 2026 10:45
(Sharecast News) - London stocks were still firmly in the red by midday on Tuesday, with HSBC and Reckitt Benckiser under the cosh after third-quarter results failed to impress.
The FTSE 100 was down 0.7% at 10,688.84.
Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: "Poorly received updates from HSBC and Reckitt have dragged down the FTSE 100, putting the UK stock market at the bottom of the pile in terms of European market performance.
"Slower growth than expected was to blame at both UK market giants, putting investors on high alert in case this is the start of a new trend across the corporate landscape.
"HSBC's wealth business was to blame for the bank missing revenue estimates, while Reckitt has been dealing with various issues including a tough consumer environment in certain operating regions.
"Shoppers under the cosh aren't going to splash out on big name brands if they need to save money, which means Reckitt is vulnerable to customers trading down to supermarket own-brand items.
"One of the reasons why stock markets have generally been resilient in recent months despite the bond market sell-off is a continuous flow of positive corporate news. Investors will seek reassurance that HSBC and Reckitt's updates are just blips in the system and not a sign of things to come on a broader basis."
Investors were also mulling data showing that shop price inflation rose in October to its highest level in two and a half years as energy and transport costs took their toll.
The latest BRC-NIQ shop price monitor showed that shop price inflation increased to 2.1% year-on-from 1.4% in September. This was above the three-month average of 1.6%.
Food inflation rose to 2.9%, against growth of 2.5% in September, while non-food inflation grew to 1.7% in October from 0.8% in September.
Fresh food inflation was unchanged at 2.6%, while ambient food inflation increased to 3.2% from 2.2%.
Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium, said: "The dam is starting to break on the huge wave of costs retailers have absorbed over the last two years. Food inflation rose again, driven by ambient groceries, although retailers still delivered plenty of promotions on sweet treats ahead of Halloween. Non-food inflation climbed to an almost three-year peak as high energy and transport costs pushed up prices with furniture, flooring and DIY particularly affected this month.
"The message to the Chancellor ahead of tomorrow's Budget could not be clearer: act now or prices will keep on rising. Retailers cannot endlessly swallow higher business rates, employment costs, energy bills, and packaging taxes. Without a change of course, October's jump in inflation is only the beginning. Our recipe for the Chancellor is simple. Slash employment costs. Cancel the 3.5% business rates increase. Remove shops from the high-value surtax. Otherwise, households will end up paying the price."
In equity markets, HSBC tumbled as it posted a 32% jump in pre-tax profit but third-quarter results from the bank were just a touch short of expectations.
Pre-tax profit rose to $9.63bn, with revenue 5% higher at $18.62bn, mainly reflecting growth in banking net interest income. Both figures were just slightly below forecasts, however, as analysts were expecting pre-tax profit of $9.69bn and revenue of $18.93bn.
Net interest income - the difference between what banks charge for loans and what they pay out for savers' deposits - was up 6% on the same period a year earlier to $9.3bn.
Reckitt Benckiser slid as the consumer goods giant cut its full-year sales growth guidance after third-quarter trading fell short of expectations, hit by manufacturing constraints in North America and weaker demand for vitamins and supplements in China.
On the upside, Chilean copper miner Antofagasta was boosted by an upgrade to 'hold' from 'sell' at Deutsche Bank.
Housebuilder Vistry jumped to the top of the FTSE 250 after saying it has appointed Helen Miles - the current chief financial officer of water company Severn Trent - as its new CFO. Severn Trent was a touch weaker.
Informa reversed earlier losses to trade just higher as it maintained its full-year earnings growth guidance despite further disruption to events in the Middle East, but warned that revenue growth could slow significantly if trading in Saudi Arabia remained suspended.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 10,688.84 -0.73%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 24,626.07 0.51%
techMARK (TASX) 6,328.91 0.22%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Antofagasta (ANTO) 3,279.00p 3.28%
Pershing Square Holdings Ltd NPV (PSH) 3,868.00p 2.43%
Rentokil Initial (RTO) 347.40p 2.39%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 6,336.00p 1.46%
Anglo American (AAL) 3,793.00p 1.28%
Barratt Redrow (BTRW) 332.70p 1.28%
ICG (ICG) 1,818.00p 1.22%
Diploma (DPLM) 7,215.00p 1.19%
Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 4,616.00p 1.18%
Lion Finance Group (BGEO) 12,400.00p 1.14%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 1,272.80p -6.64%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RKT) 5,246.00p -4.65%
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 164.60p -1.79%
BP (BP.) 622.40p -1.40%
Ithaca Energy (ITH) 305.60p -1.32%
Shell (SHEL) 3,955.50p -1.27%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,051.00p -1.17%
Pearson (PSON) 1,356.00p -1.13%
Diageo (DGE) 1,756.50p -1.04%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 4,470.00p -0.84%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Vistry Group (VTY) 267.20p 4.78%
Bloomsbury Publishing (BMY) 653.00p 4.49%
Hill and Smith (HILS) 3,000.00p 3.27%
Volution Group (FAN) 649.00p 3.04%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 332.80p 2.97%
Auction Technology Group (ATG) 486.80p 2.61%
Unite Group (UTG) 471.60p 2.48%
Ceres Power Holdings (CWR) 277.40p 2.35%
Morgan Sindall Group (MGNS) 4,058.00p 2.17%
Discoverie Group (DSCV) 826.00p 2.10%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Trainline (TRN) 210.80p -2.68%
NCC Group (NCC) 169.80p -2.64%
THG (THG) 40.00p -2.49%
Watches of Switzerland Group (WOSG) 741.50p -1.98%
B&M European Value Retail (BME) 275.20p -1.85%
Trustpilot Group (TRST) 249.00p -1.66%
Seraphim Space Investment Trust (SSIT) 178.20p -1.33%
WH Smith (SMWH) 425.60p -1.07%
Inchcape (INCH) 643.00p -1.00%
Cranswick (CWK) 5,300.00p -0.75%