London midday: Stocks lower as MPC holds rates, investors await ECB

7th Nov 2013 11:17

- MPC votes to maintain rates, QE- ECB meeting in focus, rate cut eyed- US GDP, jobless claims on tap this afternoontechMARK 2,649.04 -0.17%FTSE 100 6,725.81 -0.24%FTSE 250 15,423.36 +0.13%UK stocks were trading in the red on Thursday morning as investors adopted a cautious approach ahead of the European Central Bank (ECB) meeting this afternoon.Many are expecting to see a reduction in interest rates in response to last week's announcement of a sharp fall in inflation from 1.1% to 0.7% across the euro area in October."To an extent, a 25 basis point rate cut was priced in, in the 48 hours following the release of the October inflation figure," said Market Analyst Craig Erlam from Alpari. "Since then, doubts have been raised about whether the ECB will in fact rush into this, or take its time and see whether the figure was a one-off."Financial stocks were weighing on London's FTSE 100 by midday after fund manager Schroders underwhelmed with its third-quarter results. Banking peers RBS, Lloyds and HSBC were also providing a drag.As expected, Britain's Monetary Policy Committee voted to hold off from injecting more stimulus into the economy, keeping its asset purchase programme unchanged at £375bn. The Bank Rate meanwhile was maintained at 0.5%.Over in the States, stock futures were pointing to a similarly weak start on Wall Street as eyes turn to a barrage of US economic data, including the initial estimate of third-quarter gross domestic product growth, personal consumption figures and the initial jobless claims report. Makrets are also awaiting the all-important non-farm payrolls numbers due out on Friday which are expected to show a sharp slowdown in employment growth in October.Gold miners gain, Schroders slumpsGold miner Randgold Resources was a high riser in London this morning after recording a 80% quarter-on-quarter profit increase in the third quarter after a strong performance by its flagship Loulo-Gounkoto complex in Mali. The bottom-line growth came despite a 3% drop in the average gold price over the period.Sector peer Centamin was rebounding after its own third-quarter results yesterday as Investec lifted its target price from 50p to 54p and recommended investors to 'buy' the shares. Precious metals counterpart Fresnillo was also higher.Heading the other way was fund manager Schroders as it underwhelmed with a sharp rise in third-quarter profits. However, analysts at Canaccord Genuity downgraded the stock to 'hold', saying that the company needs to show "stronger growth to justify upgrades".Food and sweetener company Tate & Lyle edged higher despite saying half-year profits slipped 6% after a soft beverage season in the US overshadowed growth in Speciality Food Ingredients and progress in emerging markets.Coca-Cola HBC, the world's second-largest bottler of Coca-Cola, was more or less flat after a dip in revenues in the third quarter as volumes were hit by tough economic conditions in Europe. Auto and bike parts retailer Halfords surged after a better-than-expected increase in first-half profits following a strong Retail performance.Satellite operator Inmarsat was lower after recording a small fall in revenues in the third quarter and saying that delayed launches will "apply some downward pressure on operating profits during the year 2014".FTSE 100 - RisersRandgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 4,944.00p +7.36%Fresnillo (FRES) 1,016.00p +2.63%Tate & Lyle (TATE) 807.50p +1.76%Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 505.50p +1.22%Admiral Group (ADM) 1,286.00p +1.18%Babcock International Group (BAB) 1,284.00p +0.86%Bunzl (BNZL) 1,385.00p +0.80%Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 4,828.00p +0.65%Reed Elsevier (REL) 882.00p +0.57%Next (NXT) 5,565.00p +0.54%FTSE 100 - FallersSchroders (SDR) 2,519.00p -3.30%Mondi (MNDI) 1,047.00p -2.15%Travis Perkins (TPK) 1,767.00p -2.05%Croda International (CRDA) 2,333.00p -1.97%Vedanta Resources (VED) 1,070.00p -1.74%Persimmon (PSN) 1,169.00p -1.43%Glencore Xstrata (GLEN) 337.00p -1.43%International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 345.50p -1.23%Centrica (CNA) 349.10p -1.16%Standard Life (SL.) 348.00p -1.16%FTSE 250 - RisersHalfords Group (HFD) 477.00p +13.92%Centamin (DI) (CEY) 52.10p +7.87%Grainger (GRI) 211.00p +7.11%Ferrexpo (FXPO) 207.20p +4.65%Kazakhmys (KAZ) 280.50p +4.63%African Barrick Gold (ABG) 213.20p +4.41%Beazley (BEZ) 236.80p +3.81%Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC) 48.25p +3.76%Polymetal International (POLY) 595.50p +3.12%Wetherspoon (J.D.) (JDW) 740.00p +2.78%FTSE 250 - FallersInmarsat (ISAT) 683.50p -4.27%Dairy Crest Group (DCG) 526.00p -2.41%Telecity Group (TCY) 684.00p -2.36%Daejan Holdings (DJAN) 4,082.00p -1.99%3i Infrastructure (3IN) 132.90p -1.92%Ashmore Group (ASHM) 387.70p -1.90%Smith (DS) (SMDS) 296.50p -1.76%NMC Health (NMC) 352.30p -1.73%Kentz Corporation Ltd. (KENZ) 529.00p -1.67%Domino Printing Sciences (DNO) 671.00p -1.61%BC