London midday: Stocks edge higher ahead of Osborne's speech

10th Jun 2015 11:45

UK stocks reversed earlier losses and edged forward on Wednesday, as traders waited on the Chancellor's Mansion House speech.Industrial output in the UK sped past forecasts in April, thanks to a strong contribution from mining.Production grew by 0.4% month-on-month, as an 8.7% surge in oil and gas extraction pushed mining and quarrying output significantly higher.As of 1150 the FTSE 100 was 0.28% higher at 6,772.97.Elsewhere, Greek uncertainty was still very apparent in the markets and is expected to continue to weigh on investor sentiment."There are signs of occasional progress but there is very much a case of two steps forwards and one step back about this process," said Oanda's senior market analyst Craig Erlam.German 10-year bond yields hit the psychological 1% mark - for the first time since September 2014.Analysts at Unicredit attributed the move to the relative dearth of economic data and simmering worries regarding the outcome of talks between Athens and its creditors.Bank levy to be axedGeorge Osborne is expected to signal an end to the government's £3.5bn-a-year bank levy, amid worries that HSBC might be tempted to move its headquarters abroad.The Chancellor is also expect to tell City's heavyweights they can expect to see budget surpluses almost every year going forward.S&P less positive on UK banksOvernight ratings agency Standard & Poor's downgraded several of Britain's largest lenders, including Deutsche Bank and Barclays.Meanwhile, Bill Winters, the chief executive of Standard Chartered, said the bank's capital strength was a top priority.In a letter sent to employees on Wednesday, which marked his first day in his new role, Winters insisted capital strength was a key factor for banks facing challenging economic conditions.UK supermarket retailer Sainsbury's posted a sixth straight quarter of falling underlying sales on Wednesday on the back of food price deflation and increased competition.The company said like-for-like retail sales for the 12 weeks to 6 June fell 2.1% against consensus calling for a 2.2% decline.Transport operator FirstGroup saw annual profits rise in 2014, as its improvement plan delivered higher margins in its US and UK bus divisions.For the year to 31 March, the FTSE 250 group reported profit before tax of £163.9m, a 46.5% increase year-on-year and in line with analysts' expectations, while revenue declined 10% to £6.05bn.Market MoverstechMARK 3,197.86 +0.09%FTSE 100 6,780.95 +0.40%FTSE 250 17,927.89 +0.49%FTSE 100 - RisersStandard Chartered (STAN) 1,088.50p +5.27%Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 260.90p +4.78%Tesco (TSCO) 210.75p +4.28%Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 177.60p +3.62%Associated British Foods (ABF) 2,988.00p +2.54%Persimmon (PSN) 1,934.00p +2.06%Anglo American (AAL) 1,005.00p +1.99%BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,336.00p +1.60%Rio Tinto (RIO) 2,823.50p +1.53%Barratt Developments (BDEV) 598.00p +1.53%FTSE 100 - FallersWeir Group (WEIR) 1,881.00p -2.13%Diageo (DGE) 1,871.00p -0.87%HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 610.40p -0.54%TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 1,188.00p -0.50%ARM Holdings (ARM) 1,108.00p -0.36%British American Tobacco (BATS) 3,411.00p -0.35%SABMiller (SAB) 3,332.50p -0.34%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 86.20p -0.32%Hammerson (HMSO) 640.50p -0.31%Direct Line Insurance Group (DLG) 343.30p -0.26%FTSE 250 - RisersVedanta Resources (VED) 609.00p +6.28%FirstGroup (FGP) 126.60p +6.12%Home Retail Group (HOME) 158.70p +5.10%Tullow Oil (TLW) 386.70p +4.15%Cairn Energy (CNE) 188.60p +3.80%Booker Group (BOK) 181.80p +3.53%Premier Oil (PMO) 168.50p +2.93%Crest Nicholson Holdings (CRST) 537.00p +2.68%AL Noor Hospitals Group (ANH) 965.00p +2.66%Virgin Money Holdings (UK) (VM.) 451.30p +2.57%FTSE 250 - FallersHunting (HTG) 589.50p -3.76%Keller Group (KLR) 1,078.00p -1.91%Rotork (ROR) 245.90p -1.68%Fidelity China Special Situations (FCSS) 166.70p -1.54%William Hill (WMH) 417.70p -1.37%Soco International (SIA) 178.90p -1.11%Electrocomponents (ECM) 236.50p -1.05%Indivior (INDV) 231.80p -0.90%Spirit Pub Company (SPRT) 112.90p -0.88%Telecity Group (TCY) 1,061.00p -0.84%FTSE TechMARK - RisersTriad Group (TRD) 15.50p +5.08%E2V Technologies (E2V) 253.00p +1.00%Oxford Instruments (OXIG) 990.50p +0.87%Innovation Group (TIG) 30.50p +0.83%Ricardo (RCDO) 925.00p +0.76%NCC Group (NCC) 218.75p +0.69%Sepura (SEPU) 160.00p +0.63%Vectura Group (VEC) 178.25p +0.14%FTSE TechMARK - FallersDialight (DIA) 484.75p -34.93%CML Microsystems (CML) 371.00p -3.64%Oxford Biomedica (OXB) 9.26p -2.01%Skyepharma (SKP) 284.50p -1.90%KCOM Group (KCOM) 95.25p -1.55%XP Power Ltd. (DI) (XPP) 1,598.00p -1.42%Anite (AIE) 101.75p -0.73%SDL (SDL) 403.00p -0.49%Consort Medical (CSRT) 986.00p -0.40%IShares Euro Gov Bond 7-10YR UCITS ETF (IEGM) € 194.34 -0.39%