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LONDON (Alliance News) - London stocks are trading mixed Wednesday morning, with a flat FTSE 100 topped and tailed by TUI Group and Barclays, in a session driven by corporate news amid a dearth of scheduled economic data releases.
The blue-chip index is flat at 7,023.95, oscillating with no clear direction so far Wednesday morning. Analysts said Wednesday was likely to be a day of consolidation after recent record gains, including a new intraday record high of 7,065.0 points set on Tuesday.
The FTSE 250 is slightly higher, up 0.1% at 17,600.68. The mid-cap index closed up for a tenth consecutive session Tuesday at a new record of 17,579.24. Meanwhile, the AIM All-Share index is underperforming, down 0.3% at 719.16.
In Europe, the CAC 40 in Paris and the DAX in Frankfurt are down 0.5% and 0.4%, respectively, following the recent rally in both markets that has seen the two indices post new highs.
German business morale improved for the fifth straight month in March, reports said Wednesday, citing survey results from the Ifo institute. The Ifo Business Climate index climbed to 107.9 in March from 106.8 in February. It was forecast to rise to 107.3. The current conditions index improved to 112, in line with expectations, from 111.3 in the prior month. At the same time, the expectations index rose to 103.9 from 102.5 in February and stayed above the expected score of 103.
Anglo-German travel operator TUI Group is the best performer in the FTSE 100, up 3.5%, after saying its winter season is closing out as expected, with average selling prices up by about 1%. Bookings and average selling prices for the key summer season are currently up by about the same amount, TUI said, meaning it is on track to deliver first-half results that are up on the year on a like-for-like basis. It said it is also confident of delivering underlying operating profit growth of 10% to 15% for the year as a whole.
Meanwhile, Barclays is the worst performer in the blue-chip index, down 1.3% at 255.05p. Investec has downgraded the bank to Hold from Buy, cutting its price target to 270p from 295p, saying the bank has materially greater exposure than its UK domestic peers to the sharp increase in the UK bank levy announced by UK Chancellor of Exchequer George Osborne.
Standard Life also is amongst the biggest losers in the FTSE 100, down 0.4% at 482.51p. Panmure has downgraded the savings and investment company to Hold from Buy but raised its price target to 480p from 465p.
Meanwhile, Balfour Beatty is leading the FTSE 250, up 6.2%, despite a wider loss for 2014 as it booked another writedown against its struggling construction business, and it moved further to shore up its balance sheet by scrapping its dividend. Chief Executive Leo Quinn admitted it will take another two years to turn the business around.
The construction and infrastructure investments company reported a pretax loss from continuing operations of GBP304 million for 2014, widened from a GBP49 million loss in 2013, as it booked a further GBP118 million write-down against its UK construction business and a GBP53 million accounting impairment in its German rail business.
Balfour Beatty shares have risen nearly 14% so far in 2015, taking back some of the sharp decline in 2104.
Bellway is another gainer in the mid-cap index, up 5%. The housebuilder reported surging pretax profit and revenue for the first half, boosted by a rise in completions on the back of resilient London property market, and said it would hike its dividend payout. Bellway said its pretax profit rose to GBP158.9 million in the half-year to the end of January, up from GBP103.8 million a year earlier.
Moneysupermarket.com is the worst performer in the FTSE 250, down 4.8% after its founder, Simon Nixon, decided against proceeding with a planned share sale which would have raised him around GBP100 million, said Citigroup Global Markets, which provided no reason for the reversal. Nixon had been set to sell a 6.4% stake in the company via an accelerated bookbuild handled by the investment bank.
US futures point to a higher opening, following Tuesday's decline, with the DJIA and the S&P 500 up 0.1% and the Nasdaq 100, up 0.2%.
Still in the economic calendar Wednesday, US durable goods orders data is at 1230 GMT, while EIA crude oil stocks is at 1430 GMT.
By Daniel Ruiz; danielruiz@alliancenews.com
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