London midday: Markets rangebound after recent gains

The FTSE 100 erased early gains by Friday lunchtime with markets rangebound on the last day of trading before the end of the second quarter, with traders pausing for breath after strong gains seen over the past three sessions.Since hitting a five-month low of 6,029 on Monday, the benchmark index has rebounded strongly over the past few sessions, gaining nearly 4.0% with many seeing the sell-off over recent weeks as overdone.However, ongoing uncertainty regarding a potential tapering of stimulus from the Federal Reserve continued to dominate market sentiment this week, with investors watching US economic data very closely for any indication of how the Fed will act in the coming months."The linkages between strong data and early tapering would ordinarily provide a sell-off in the markets, yet the subsequent rise [after robust figures earlier in the week] led to an increased awareness of correction owing to potentially oversold markets," said Market Analyst Craig Erlam from Alpari.Helped to support stocks early on were UK consumer confidence figures which picked up this month in line with expectations driven by growing optimism about the economy, according to GfK. The research company said its monthly consumer confidence index rose to -21 in June from -22 in May, the highest level since 2011. FTSE 100: Serco gains after strong first halfOutsourcing group Serco was a strong riser this morning after saying that organic revenue growth was ahead of expectations in the first half thanks to the bumper level of contract wins the year before. However, the company maintained its full-year profits guidance after saying it expects to report a small reduction in first-half margins.Pearson was making gains on the back of rumours that Rupert Murdoch and a state media group in Abu Dhabi are in discussions to take over the Financial Times Group.Heading the other way was defence group BAE Systems after Deutsche Bank downgraded the stock to 'hold'. Telecoms firm Vodafone however was making gains after the same broker raised its rating to 'buy'.Similarly, Schroders was performing well after the asset management company was upgraded by Exane BNP Paribas to 'outperform'.Drinks firm SABMiller was lower this morning after Nomura cut its target price for the stock and reiterated a 'neutral' rating, saying that it expects the company to report a slow start to its financial year when it updates the market next month.FTSE 100 - RisersSchroders (SDR) 2,230.00p +3.43%Serco Group (SRP) 619.50p +3.16%Pearson (PSON) 1,175.00p +1.82%Resolution Ltd. (RSL) 284.70p +1.61%Associated British Foods (ABF) 1,744.00p +1.57%Hammerson (HMSO) 486.10p +1.52%GKN (GKN) 306.70p +1.32%Croda International (CRDA) 2,473.00p +1.31%Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 2,638.00p +1.07%British Land Co (BLND) 571.00p +1.06%FTSE 100 - FallersFresnillo (FRES) 852.50p -3.34%Weir Group (WEIR) 2,143.00p -2.68%Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. (ENRC) 207.30p -2.12%BAE Systems (BA.) 384.30p -1.76%TUI Travel (TT.) 355.80p -1.50%Compass Group (CPG) 841.00p -1.35%G4S (GFS) 231.60p -1.32%Antofagasta (ANTO) 806.50p -1.22%Glencore Xstrata (GLEN) 273.95p -1.21%AstraZeneca (AZN) 3,114.50p -1.19%FTSE 250 - RisersJPMorgan Indian Inv Trust (JII) 354.00p +4.18%NMC Health (NMC) 280.00p +3.70%Essar Energy (ESSR) 127.30p +3.24%Wetherspoon (J.D.) (JDW) 665.00p +2.31%Savills (SVS) 575.00p +2.31%Brewin Dolphin Holdings (BRW) 230.00p +2.22%Betfair Group (BET) 861.00p +2.14%Greene King (GNK) 783.00p +2.09%SEGRO (SGRO) 279.80p +1.97%Great Portland Estates (GPOR) 525.00p +1.94%FTSE 250 - FallersAfrican Barrick Gold (ABG) 97.20p -6.54%888 Holdings (888) 147.70p -5.44%Perform Group (PER) 511.00p -5.37%Homeserve (HSV) 267.00p -5.12%Imagination Technologies Group (IMG) 282.40p -3.78%Kazakhmys (KAZ) 255.60p -3.55%Salamander Energy (SMDR) 145.00p -3.33%Computacenter (CCC) 454.90p -2.72%Keller Group (KLR) 984.00p -2.67%Morgan Advance Materials (MGAM) 259.80p -2.29%