London stocks were still a little higher by midday on Wednesday but markets lacked direction, with many traders away from their desks for the half-term holiday.
The FTSE 100 was 0.3% higher at 7,099.28.
Spreadex analyst Connor Campbell said: “Wednesday could be a day where the markets tread water, saving their energies for the US jobs focused sessions on Thursday and Friday, which bring the unemployment claims and latest non-farm data respectively.”
Investors were digesting the latest figures from the Bank of England, which showed mortgage approvals for house purchases rose to 86,900 in April from 83,400 in March, coming in above consensus expectations for 81,000. However, net consumer credit fell by £0.4bn in April, below consensus expectations of a £0.5bn increase.
“Mortgage approvals recovered in April from March’s dip, in response to the lifting of lockdown measures and news that the Stamp Duty Land Tax holiday had been extended,” said Pantheon Macroeconomics.
“Approvals likely will remain at a high level in the next couple of months, given that the new buyer enquiries balance of the RICS Residential Market Survey picked up to +44 in April, from +42 in March, thereby remaining around the 95th percentile of all past readings since 1999,” said economist Samuel Tombs.
“In addition, Google Trends data indicate that visits to one of the three main property websites were 32% above their average for the time of the year in April and 22% above in May. Nonetheless, a shortage of homes on estate agents’ books will ensure that approvals do not approach November’s 103.4K peak.”
In equity markets, oil giants BP and Shell gushed higher as oil prices continued to gain after OPEC agreed on Tuesday to stick to its policy of increasing production gradually up to July.
Burberry was the top gainer on the FTSE 100 after Exane upgraded the shares to ‘outperform’ from ‘neutral’, saying the strategic transformation is not priced in.
East Europe-focused budget carrier Wizz Air fell after it reported a 576m net loss for the year as revenue and passenger numbers plunged amid the coronavirus pandemic. The company also said it would post another loss in 2022 unless travel restrictions were lifted quickly and permanently.
The loss compared with a profit of 281m a year ago, the carrier said. Revenue fell 73.2% to 739m as passenger numbers slumped 74.6% to 10m.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,099.28 0.27%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 22,867.97 -0.03%
techMARK (TASX) 4,377.85 0.00%
FTSE 100 – Risers
Burberry Group (BRBY) 2,180.00p 3.42%
Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 2,621.00p 2.02%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 110.76p 1.67%
Rentokil Initial (RTO) 486.80p 1.63%
Royal Dutch Shell ‘B’ (RDSB) 1,326.40p 1.50%
Intermediate Capital Group (ICP) 2,197.00p 1.34%
National Grid (NG.) 962.30p 1.28%
Spirax-Sarco Engineering (SPX) 12,885.00p 1.26%
BP (BP.) 318.70p 1.25%
Experian (EXPN) 2,736.00p 1.22%
FTSE 100 – Fallers
Kingfisher (KGF) 353.60p -2.16%
Pearson (PSON) 827.00p -1.90%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 173.20p -1.73%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,579.50p -1.68%
B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 560.40p -1.65%
Weir Group (WEIR) 1,958.50p -1.48%
Whitbread (WTB) 3,215.00p -1.38%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 173.65p -1.36%
Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 1,649.00p -1.29%
Just Eat Takeaway.Com N.V. (CDI) (JET) 6,297.00p -1.27%
FTSE 250 – Risers
4Imprint Group (FOUR) 3,175.00p 5.13%
Oxford Instruments (OXIG) 2,180.00p 3.32%
Watches of Switzerland Group (WOSG) 822.00p 2.75%
Workspace Group (WKP) 921.50p 1.99%
Tate & Lyle (TATE) 773.60p 1.98%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 57.02p 1.89%
Hammerson (HMSO) 40.07p 1.80%
C&C Group (CDI) (CCR) 245.20p 1.74%
GCP Student Living (DIGS) 175.40p 1.62%
Drax Group (DRX) 449.00p 1.54%
FTSE 250 – Fallers
AO World (AO.) 247.00p -3.74%
Greencore Group (CDI) (GNC) 138.30p -3.49%
SSP Group (SSPG) 293.60p -3.10%
Syncona Limited NPV (SYNC) 212.00p -2.30%
Moneysupermarket.com Group (MONY) 270.60p -2.24%
NCC Group (NCC) 289.00p -2.03%
Provident Financial (PFG) 246.00p -1.91%
Grafton Group Ut (CDI) (GFTU) 1,187.00p -1.90%
888 Holdings (888) 395.00p -1.89%
Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 4,785.00p -1.87%
