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(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London were mixed at midday on Wednesday on a light day of company and economic news, as investors await US jobs data at the end of the week.
The FTSE 100 index was up 12.68 points, or 0.2%, at 7,093.02. The mid-cap FTSE 250 index was down 19.93 points, or 0.1%, at 22,854.86. The AIM All-Share index was 0.3% lower at 1,254.85.
The Cboe UK 100 index was down 0.1% at 705.70. The Cboe 250 was down 0.1% at 20,695.76, and the Cboe Small Companies was up 0.2% at 15,209.25.
In Paris the CAC 40 was up 0.2%, while the DAX 30 in Frankfurt was up 0.1%.
Analysts at ActivTrades commented: "European shares fluctuated after the opening bell, carrying on the trend from Asian markets, amid uncertain market sentiment. While market volatility is slowly decreasing this week, the price movements seem to be increasingly lacking in direction as many investors remain torn between the global economic recovery and inflation concerns.
"Most traders are now waiting for fresh catalysts before taking any significant decision on their exposure to riskier assets such as stocks. Many are already cautiously eyeing macro data from both the US and Europe, where positive results could seriously dent central banks' monetary dovish stance and bring a new bearish driver to markets."
In the FTSE 250, Tullow Oil was up 2.1%. The oil and gas company said Chair Dorothy Thompson has decided to stand down, having assumed the role in September 2018. A search process to find a replacement has been launched and is expected to conclude towards the end of the summer, the company said.
Tate & Lyle was up 1.8% after Berenberg upgraded the food ingredients maker to Buy from Hold.
At the other end of the mid-caps, Greencore Group was still the worst performer at midday, down 3.7%, after the sandwich maker was downgraded to Hold from Buy by Jefferies.
Wizz Air was down 1.6% Results from the budget carrier showed it swung to an annual loss as lockdown restrictions curtailed operations.
For the financial year ended March 31, Wizz Air swung to a pretax loss of EUR566.5 million from a profit of EUR294.1 million the year before on revenue of EUR739.0 million, down 73% from EUR2.76 billion. Ancillary revenue fell by 67% to EUR412.6 million, representing 56% of total revenue.
The Budapest-based budget airline said that in financial 2021 passengers carried fell 75% to 10.2 million from 40.0 million the year prior. It had a 64.0% load factor, down from 93.6% in financial 2020. More recently, in May, Wizz Air carried 832,538 passengers with a 66.1% load factor.
Looking ahead, Wizz Air Chief Executive Officer Jozsef Varadi said he expects the carrier to fly around 30% of capacity in the first quarter of financial 2022.
Further, Varadi said that unless there is an "accelerated and permanent lifting of restrictions", he expects a reported net loss during 2022. For 2023, Varadi sees a strong trading environment and plans to operate at full capacity as the pandemic subsides.
Mid-cap peer easyJet was up 0.4% and AIM-listed Jet2 was 0.8% lower.
Larger budget competitor Ryanair reported some of its first good news on passenger traffic since the pandemic began, with an increase in passenger traffic in May from April and a year before. Ryanair shares were down 0.1%.
Elsewhere in London, Bloomsbury Publishing was up 8.8% after the publishing house said it delivered record results and hailed the popularity of reading as a "ray of sunshine" during a "very dark year" brought about by the pandemic.
For the financial year ended February 28, pretax profit was up 31% to GBP17.3 million from GBP13.2 million the year before on revenue of GBP185.1 million, up 14% from GBP162.8 million.
Bloomsbury declared a total dividend of 8.86 pence per share, an 8% increase on the 8.17p the year before. It also proposed a special dividend of 9.78p.
CEO Nigel Newton sad: "Considering the ongoing momentum and strength of our business, Bloomsbury expects revenue to be ahead and profit to be comfortably ahead of market expectations" in the new financial year.
The publisher put those financial 2022 expectations at profit before tax and highlighted items of GBP17.4 million, which compares to GBP19.2 million in financial 2021, on revenue of GBP177.5 million.
88 Energy was extending its decline, down 3.5%.
US President Joe Biden's administration announced Tuesday it was halting petroleum development activity in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, reversing a move by former president Donald Trump to allow drilling.
88 Energy has four projects in the North Slope of Alaska with a combined acreage of around 440,000 net acres.
The pound was quoted at USD1.4138 at midday Wednesday, down from USD1.4178 at the London equities close Tuesday.
Downing Street indicated that UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson still sees nothing in the data to suggest the further unlocking of restrictions later this month will need to be delayed.
The proportion of deaths involving coronavirus in England and Wales is at its lowest level for more than eight months, amid debate over ending restrictions.
"The main story for the pound remains the potential delay to the easing of COVID-19 restrictions in the UK. Government advisers claim they are faced with a conundrum, whereby cases are rising, whilst hospitalisations and deaths are not," said OFX.
The euro was priced at USD1.2271, higher from USD1.2248. Against the yen, the dollar was trading at JPY109.83, up from JPY109.40.
Brent oil continued trading at its highest level in over two years, quoted at USD71.08 a barrel Wednesday at midday, flat from USD71.11 late Tuesday. Gold was trading at USD1,896.59 an ounce, marginally lower against USD1,899.75.
US stock market futures were set for a mixed start with investors remaining focused on Friday's non-farm payroll report.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was called up 0.1%, the S&P 500 index flat and the Nasdaq Composite down 0.1%.
On the corporate front, Zoom Video Communications will be in focus after the teleconferencing software provider late Tuesday upgraded full-year guidance as earnings surged in the first quarter. The stock was up 2.3% in pre-market trade.
Ahead, FTSE Russell will announce the latest index review changes after the London market close with Renishaw set to drop out of the FTSE 100 and be replaced by ITV. The changes come into effect from the start of trading on June 21.
By Arvind Bhunjun; arvindbhunjun@alliancenews.com
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