London’s FTSE 100 was down 0.1% at 7,566.90 in afternoon trade on Wednesday.
Tesco was weaker after it reported a sharp rise in annual profits but warned that current-year earnings could fall as inflationary pressures start to hit consumers. Ocado and Sainsburys also lost ground.
Housebuilder Taylor Wimpey was on the back foot. AJ Bell financial analyst Danni Hewson said: “The higher cost of living means anyone trying to save up for a property deposit may find it harder to put away as much each month. Rising inflation also strengthens the argument for interest rates to keep going up, and that will make mortgages more expensive and potentially cause a ripple effect in the property market if fewer people are able to buy a house or flat which might lead to lower prices.”
“Also weighing on the housebuilding sector is an announcement from the Government that more than £2 billion has been committed by over 35 developers to make buildings safe. That’s the right thing to do, but it means an outflow of cash that might otherwise have been used to buy more land, buy back shares or top up shareholder dividends.”
On the upside, British Airways and Iberia owner IAG flew to the top of the index, with oil giant Shell also on the up as oil prices edged higher.
British Land was in the black as JPMorgan said in a note that it was keeping the shares at ‘overweight’.
FTSE 100 – Risers
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 139.98p 3.55%
Fresnillo (FRES) 820.00p 2.53%
Smiths Group (SMIN) 1,433.50p 1.88%
Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 1,590.50p 1.82%
Airtel Africa (AAF) 149.90p 1.42%
Shell (SHEL) 2,195.50p 1.39%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RKT) 5,920.00p 1.27%
Smith (DS) (SMDS) 316.70p 1.18%
Anglo American (AAL) 4,147.00p 1.13%
British Land Company (BLND) 517.20p 0.98%
FTSE 100 – Fallers
Ocado Group (OCDO) 1,131.50p -4.47%
Tesco (TSCO) 260.20p -3.84%
Abrdn (ABDN) 196.30p -3.11%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 237.50p -2.90%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,553.00p -2.60%
Croda International (CRDA) 7,534.00p -2.51%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 129.20p -2.42%
Entain (ENT) 1,501.00p -2.34%
M&G (MNG) 208.70p -2.29%
B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 537.40p -2.26%
