(Alliance News) -Â The FTSE 100 had nudged into the green at midday on Wednesday as markets settled down following the recent injection of vaccine excitement.
The FTSE 100 index was up 3.68 points, or 0.1%, at 6,369.01 on Wednesday. The mid-cap FTSE 250 index was 80.09 points higher, or up 0.4%, at 19,596.26. The AIM All-Share index was up 0.5% at 1,017.26.
The Cboe UK 100 index was up 0.1% at 634.21 at midday. The Cboe 250 was up 0.4% at 16,956.65, and the Cboe Small Companies up 0.7% at 11,171.18.
In mainland Europe, the CAC 40 in Paris and the DAX 30 in Frankfurt were both up 0.2% in early afternoon trade.
"It's been a bit of a muted session so far on Wednesday, with small losses earlier being erased as we see some consolidation after the vaccine frenzy," said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at Oanda.
The FTSE 100 surged 1.7% on Monday after Moderna unveiled positive results for its Covid-19 vaccine candidate - adding to a similar announcement by Pfizer a week earlier - but the index pulled back on Tuesday to end the session 0.9% lower.
From a low of 6,326.74 hit early Wednesday morning, London's blue-chip index had recovered to post minor gains at midday.
Erlam added: "It's been a frantic few weeks, with the hype around the [US presidential] election barely easing off before vaccine euphoria took over. Perhaps we're now seeing a little fatigue kicking in ahead of what is likely to be a lively end to the year."
Wall Street is on course for a higher start Wednesday, with the Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite all pointed up 0.3%.
The Oanda analyst noted that more vaccine news, how the pandemic plays out in the winter, Brexit, and the US presidential transition mean there is "no shortage of risk events" in the final six weeks of the year.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has warned that it is "far from certain" that Britain will manage to get a post-Brexit trade deal with Brussels in time for the end of the year.
Talks have been continuing this week in Brussels between the EU's chief negotiator Michel Barnier and his UK counterpart David Frost.
However, with hopes of a breakthrough this week receding, it is unclear whether the two sides will be prepared to carry on talking into next week if there is still no agreement.
The current Brexit transition period ends at the end of the year when Britain will finally leave the single market and the customs union and any deal would have to be ratified by both the UK and European parliaments before then.
In UK data on Wednesday, the annual inflation rate accelerated by more than expected in October.
Inflation edged up to 0.7% in October from a rate of 0.5% in September. This was higher than market forecasts, according to FXStreet, of 0.6% annual inflation.
The eurozone, meanwhile, remained in deflation last month. According to Eurostat, consumer prices slipped 0.3% yearly in the euro area in October, in line with both September's decline and market forecasts. In August, consumer prices fell 0.2% on a year before, meaning October was the third month on the bounce of deflation in the eurozone.
The euro traded at USD1.1875 at midday, higher than USD1.1866 late Tuesday and sterling rose to USD1.3285 from USD1.3254.
Against the yen, the dollar edged down to JPY103.90 versus JPY104.22.
Gold was quoted at USD1,871.75 an ounce on Wednesday, lower than USD1,887.43 on Tuesday. Brent oil was trading at USD44.13 a barrel, higher than USD43.40 late Tuesday.
In London, SSE was amongst the top performers in the FTSE 100 as it reported a sharply higher interim profit from substantial exceptional gains.
The FTSE 100-listed power utility is based in Perth, Scotland and posted a GBP829.5 million profit for the six months ended September 30, multiplying from GBP128.9 million a year before.
The big change, SSE said, reflects: "Pretax exceptional gains of GBP654.4 million recognised during the year mainly driven by a combination of progressing with the group's GBP2 billion plus non-core asset disposal programme and IFRS 9 remeasurements on operating derivatives."
This compares to a GBP99.6 million pretax exceptional loss the prior year.
Adjusted pretax profit, which excludes exceptional items, fair value movements on financing derivates, and other factors, fell 26% to GBP193.9 million from GBP263.4 million.
SSE shares were up 4.0% at midday.
RSA Insurance shares advanced 3.9% after agreeing to be taken over in a deal worth GBP7.2 billion.
The deal, first announced earlier this month, will see the insurer divided between Canada's Intact Financial Corp and Scandinavian insurer Tryg AS. Under the deal, RSA shareholders will receive 685 pence in cash for each share, the same amount proposed earlier in November. In addition, RSA shareholders will be entitled to receive the insurer's interim dividend of 8p.
The acquisition price represents a premium of 51% to November 4's closing price in London, being the day before the announcement of Intact and Tryg's possible offer.
At the other end of the index was Spirax-Sarco, down 4.3%. The Cheltenham, England-based manufacturer of steam management systems said it saw some slowing of the decline in sales in the second half of the year so far, but remains wary of the possible damage that Covid-19 resurgences could have on recovery.
Spirax said it saw some improvement in the third quarter of the year ended September 30, without providing specific figures. Overall organic sales decline in the four months to the end October eased compared to the first half of the year.
Going forward, Spirax said the impact of Covid-19, especially with regards to the effects of second waves across the globe, remains unclear. The company said it is probable that the virus's resurgence will hold back recovery in the final quarter of the year.
British Land slipped 3.7% as it posted an interim loss and declared a much reduced dividend, the property developer's first payout since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
British Land said its EPRA net tangible assets fell 10% to 693p at September 30 from 773p at March 31. The company posted a widened pretax loss of GBP757 million for the half-year to September 30 from GBP440 million a year ago. Revenue came in 22% lower year-on-year at GBP255 million from GBP328 million.
More positively, the company confirmed it will be resuming dividend payments with an interim payout of 8.4p. British Land back in March decided to suspend dividend payments, given the uncertain outlook, but said it has been "reassured" by the productivity of its assets when restrictions were relaxed.
The 8.4p payout is, however, a 47% chop from 15.97p a year earlier.
Surging to the top of the mid-cap FTSE 250 was Micro Focus International, rallying 27% on news its profit margin had been at the upper end of management expectations in its 2020 financial year.
Micro Focus said its adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation margin for its financial year ended October 31 was approximately 39%, near the upper end of management expectations. This compares to an adjusted Ebitda margin of 40.7% in financial 2019.
By Lucy Heming;Â lucyheming@alliancenews.com
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