London midday: Sainsbury's, gold miners lift markets but gains limited

22nd Apr 2025 11:47

(Sharecast News) - London-listed stocks pushed higher by Tuesday lunchtime, though gains were limited with no major economic data or corporate news to steer sentiment following another heavy sell-off on Wall Street the previous session.

The FTSE 100 was up 0.4% at 8,305 just before the midday mark, on track to finish at its highest level since 3 April after some tentative gains over recent sessions.

Markets across Europe were mostly closed on Friday and Monday for Easter celebrations, though trading in New York resumed, resulting in another bruising session for US dollar assets at the start of the week.

This was in part linked to continued gloomy headlines around trade, such as Washington's plans to hit Chinese ships with port fees, along with president Donald Trump's relentless criticism of Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell.

"It is unlikely that Trump would fire Powell, as it would likely involve a time-intensive court battle that would bring us to the end of his term, while making markets nervous on Fed independence which could cause inflation to rise," said analysts at TD Securities in a note.

Sainsbury rises, DCC slumps

J Sainsbury topped the FTSE 100 risers list after announcing the launch of a share buyback programme of up to £200m, as flagged in its results announcement last week.

Precious metals miners Fresnillo, Hochschild and Endeavour gained as gold prices hit another record high, rising 1.4% to $3,473.10 an ounce, touching an earlier high of more than $3,500, as concerns about the US economy continued to dominate moves.

"US currency and government debt are often a safe haven during times of market turbulence but, with America the source of much of the recent volatility, investors have been reaching for another obvious port in the storm, gold, in large numbers," said AJ Bell investment director, Russ Mould.

"The precious metal is strikingly above $3,500 per ounce for the first time and gold bugs will be eyeing the $4,000 level only a matter of weeks after the price moved through $3,000."

DCC fell after selling its healthcare division to HealthCo Investment for a total enterprise value of £1.05bn. The company said it would return surplus capital to shareholders "while maintaining a strong, investment-grade balance sheet".

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 8,305.18 0.36%

FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,241.08 -0.05%

techMARK (TASX) 4,366.52 -0.31%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 264.80p 3.12%

Vodafone Group (VOD) 72.40p 2.72%

Tesco (TSCO) 363.90p 2.62%

Fresnillo (FRES) 1,047.00p 2.55%

easyJet (EZJ) 479.10p 2.26%

Unilever (ULVR) 4,894.00p 1.83%

Land Securities Group (LAND) 586.00p 1.65%

Aviva (AV.) 535.20p 1.63%

Barratt Redrow (BTRW) 451.00p 1.51%

BT Group (BT.A) 168.05p 1.42%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Flutter Entertainment (DI) (FLTR) 16,310.00p -5.48%

DCC (CDI) (DCC) 4,790.00p -3.82%

CRH (CDI) (CRH) 6,204.00p -3.54%

Entain (ENT) 555.20p -2.56%

Diploma (DPLM) 3,752.00p -2.44%

Smurfit Westrock (DI) (SWR) 3,019.00p -2.42%

Rentokil Initial (RTO) 342.00p -2.29%

Intermediate Capital Group (ICG) 1,729.00p -1.82%

Pershing Square Holdings Ltd NPV (PSH) 3,354.00p -1.76%

Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 850.80p -1.64%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Hochschild Mining (HOC) 326.00p 4.96%

Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 1,499.00p 2.67%

Kier Group (KIE) 134.60p 2.44%

Vistry Group (VTY) 606.60p 2.43%

Pennon Group (PNN) 502.00p 2.41%

Close Brothers Group (CBG) 302.20p 2.30%

Chrysalis Investments Limited NPV (CHRY) 94.00p 2.17%

Empiric Student Property (ESP) 92.10p 2.11%

Ruffer Investment Company Ltd Red PTG Pref Shares (RICA) 282.00p 1.81%

Endeavour Mining (EDV) 2,192.00p 1.76%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Discoverie Group (DSCV) 533.00p -4.82%

WH Smith (SMWH) 890.00p -4.40%

Auction Technology Group (ATG) 575.00p -4.33%

Edinburgh Worldwide Inv Trust (EWI) 145.00p -3.85%

W.A.G Payment Solutions (WPS) 58.80p -3.61%

Diversified Energy Company (DEC) 862.00p -3.25%

Carnival (CCL) 1,187.00p -3.22%

Allianz Technology Trust (ATT) 315.00p -3.08%

Ithaca Energy (ITH) 136.40p -2.85%

Indivior (INDV) 669.00p -2.83%