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(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London were trading in the red at midday after UK Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced plans to raise taxes and cut spending.
"Inflation is still the culprit causing fresh jitters on financial markets and why the UK government is taking some very tough choices when it comes to its tax and spend plans," said Susannah Streeter at Hargreaves Lansdown.
The FTSE 100 index was down 39.17 points, or 0.5%, at 7,311.81. The FTSE 250 was down 52.68 points, or 0.3%, at 19,059.70, and the AIM All-Share was down 3.55 points, 0.4%, at 836.33.
The Cboe UK 100 was down 0.6% at 731.20. The Cboe UK 250 was down 0.2% at 16,429.83. The Cboe Small Companies was down 0.6% at 12,842.18.
Jeremy Hunt promised to "tackle the cost-of-living crisis" and "rebuild our economy" as he set out plans for tax rises and spending cuts.
Hunt said there would be a "shallower downturn" as a result of his measures. He told members of Parliament that his three priorities were "stability, growth and public services", as he delivered his autumn budget statement.
Hunt set out a package of GBP30 billion of spending cuts and GBP24 billion in tax rises over the next five years.
The pound was quoted at USD1.1862 on Thursday afternoon in London, slightly down from USD1.1883 late Wednesday. Earlier in the morning, however, sterling traded above USD1.19.
In London, Halma was down 3.4% despite saying it is on-track for the full-year, after reporting record revenue in the six months that ended September 30.
The safety equipment maker reported that in the half-year, revenue totalled GBP875.5 million, up from GBP737.2 million the previous year.
Pretax profit, however, dropped to GBP145.5 million from GBP167.5 million. Halma said this drop was due to a gain on disposal of GBP34.0 million in the first half of its last financial year, which wasn't repeated. Excluding this gain, it noted, pretax profit was up 9%.
Spirax-Sarco Engineering was down 2.7%, as it pointed to predictions of weak industrial production growth globally. It said this is now forecasted to be 2.9% in 2022, lower than the 3.5% forecasted in July, although "still above pre-pandemic levels". For 2023, the IP forecast has also been revised downwards to 1.0%, from 3.2% in July.
Burberry was up 1.7% after it reported a strong rise in interim profit and revenue and lifted its interim payout by 42%.
For the six months that ended on October 1, the London-based fashion retailer posted a pretax profit of GBP251 million, up 31% from GBP191 million in the six months to September 25 last year.
Revenue rose by 12% to GBP1.35 billion from GBP1.21 billion, with new product launches and seasonal collections performing "strongly".
In the FTSE 250, Energean was down 4.1% though it reported increased earnings and revenue in the first nine months of the year.
In the nine months that ended September 30, adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation and exploration expense increased to USD348.5 million from USD141.3 million in the same period last year.
The London-based gas exploration and production company said revenue increased 57% to USD550.2 million from USD349.0 million last year.
Mitie was up 6.6%.
The Glasgow-based facilities management company reported that in the six months that ended September 30, profit fell to GBP43.1 million from GBP49.2 million year-on-year.
Revenue from continuing operations marginally increased to GBP1.92 million from GBP1.91 million, arguing new contract wins, acquisitions and price inflation offset the boost from short-term Covid-19-related contracts a year ago.
"Although inflationary pressures will continue into the second half, historically our second half performance is stronger, with increased revenues from projects, seasonal winter work, and the ramp-up of margin enhancement savings coming through as the year unfolds. We therefore expect to deliver operating profit before other items of at least GBP145 million for the financial year 2023," Chief Executive Phil Bentley said.
On AIM, Crimson Tide was up 17% after it announced a new three-year contract with an existing retail client for its mpro5 smart app.
The software developer said the new deal is worth GBP1 million per year, more than double its current annual recurring revenue under the previous contract.
Stocks on the European continent were mixed. The CAC 40 index in Paris was down 0.6%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt was flat in the early afternoon. The euro traded at USD1.0350 midday on Thursday, down from USD1.0405 late Wednesday.
Stocks in New York were called lower on Thursday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was called down 0.6%. The S&P 500 was called down 0.6% and the Nasdaq Composite down 0.5%.
Gold was priced at USD1,765.26 an ounce midday Thursday, down sharply from USD1,777.45 late Wednesday. Brent oil fetched USD91.50 a barrel, down a bit from USD91.89.
Against the yen, the dollar was quoted at JPY139.85, up from JPY139.43 on Wednesday.
By Heather Rydings; heatherrydings@alliancenews.com
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