London midday: Tesco shares slip as UK stocks fall ahead of ECB

- Markets await ECB meeting, US jobs data- UK services PMI ahead of expectations- US ADP report in focus later on, US futures fall- Tesco LFL sales worsen amid price cutstechMARK 2,816.15 +0.07%FTSE 100 6,820.85 -0.23%FTSE 250 15,978.73 +0.04%Nervousness ahead of the European Central Bank (ECB) policy meeting on Thursday and the all-important US jobs report on Friday kept risk appetite in check on Wednesday, with UK stocks trading slightly lower by midday."I get the feeling that investors have now positioned themselves ahead of the ECB meeting tomorrow, making any significant gains before then potentially difficult to come by," said Market Analyst Craig Erlam from Alpari UK. "Evidence of this can be seen in equity markets which have edged lower over the last couple of days, despite the consensus being for the ECB to announce stimulus of some kind."The FTSE 100 was trading 0.2% down at 6,821 and was set to finish at its lowest level since May 23rd when it closed at 6,815.75.Increased expectations of a rate rise in the UK may have also dampened sentiment among investors today after Markit purchasing managers' index (PMI) for Britain's services sector came in ahead of expectations. The PMI eased from 58.7 to 58.6, but came in above the consensus forecast of 58.2.Markit's Chief Economist Chris Williamson said the figures suggested the economy was on course to expand by 0.8% again in the second quarter. He said this would fuel speculation about an interest rate hike, but added that Bank of England policymakers were likely to hold off until firm evidence of substantial wage rises came through.Meanwhile, stock futures on Wall Street were pointing to a similarly weak start ahead of the ADP US employment report. The data, often seen as a rough guide to Friday's 'official' non-farm payrolls data, will show a 208,000 increase in private payrolls for last month, according to analysts' estimates, down from a 220,000 gain in April.The Queen's Speech was also in focus today as ministers unveiled new reforms to the pension system and measures to "get Britain building again". As well as the shake-up of the annuities market, reported in March, the government also announced new "collective" pensions, though the impact on insurance stocks in London was marginal.Tesco slips as LFL sales slumpTesco erased earlier gains and dropped into the red as the decline in like-for-like (LFL) sales at its UK business worsened in the first quarter, with the recent wave of price cuts and competitive measures taking its toll on the top line. UK LFL sales excluding petrol fell by 3.7% in the first three months of Tesco's fiscal year, worse than the 2.9% drop recorded in the fourth quarter but not as bad as some analysts had feared.Grocery rivals J Sainsbury and WM Morrison were also out of favour after the statement.Office space provider Workspace jumped after reporting a strong set of annual results, thanks to London's flourishing technology and media sector, with LFL rent roll up 8.5% in year to £47.4m. Plastic packaging manufacturer RPC Group was also higher after beating earnings expectations for the full year as acquisitions gave results a boost.Shares in Smith & Nephew were making gains on Wednesday after JPMorgan Cazenove said that M&A speculation could provide support to the stock in the near term after its recent strong performance.National Grid and WPP were trading lower this morning after going ex-dividend. Other ex-dividend stocks today include Associated British Foods, Bank of Georgia, Debenhams, Evraz, Grainger, Laird and Taylor Wimpey.FTSE 100 - RisersSmith & Nephew (SN.) 1,051.00p +2.04%Sports Direct International (SPD) 783.50p +1.62%Admiral Group (ADM) 1,471.00p +1.17%Associated British Foods (ABF) 3,052.00p +1.16%Mondi (MNDI) 1,086.00p +1.02%Sage Group (SGE) 415.40p +1.00%Friends Life Group Limited (FLG) 312.60p +0.94%Melrose Industries (MRO) 277.90p +0.94%Standard Life (SL.) 391.50p +0.88%Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,142.50p +0.75%FTSE 100 - FallersNational Grid (NG.) 834.50p -4.90%WPP (WPP) 1,262.00p -2.02%Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 327.90p -1.77%Vodafone Group (VOD) 204.10p -1.66%Antofagasta (ANTO) 777.50p -1.58%Barclays (BARC) 240.70p -1.39%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 337.00p -1.17%Centrica (CNA) 331.00p -1.11%easyJet (EZJ) 1,565.00p -0.95%William Hill (WMH) 347.20p -0.89%FTSE 250 - RisersWorkspace Group (WKP) 610.00p +4.45%RPC Group (RPC) 649.50p +4.34%Imagination Technologies Group (IMG) 234.00p +3.22%Vedanta Resources (VED) 1,154.00p +2.76%Dairy Crest Group (DCG) 470.30p +2.37%Petra Diamonds Ltd.(DI) (PDL) 162.40p +2.14%Fidessa Group (FDSA) 2,373.00p +2.06%IP Group (IPO) 184.10p +2.05%Playtech (PTEC) 672.00p +1.74%Oxford Instruments (OXIG) 1,370.00p +1.71%FTSE 250 - FallersTullett Prebon (TLPR) 287.50p -5.43%Supergroup (SGP) 1,115.00p -4.70%Evraz (EVR) 99.00p -4.35%Ophir Energy (OPHR) 250.00p -3.66%Bank of Georgia Holdings (BGEO) 2,440.00p -2.79%Laird (LRD) 294.90p -2.32%Debenhams (DEB) 75.30p -2.08%Smith (DS) (SMDS) 316.80p -1.83%Perpetual Income & Growth Inv Trust (PLI) 383.00p -1.79%Electrocomponents (ECM) 281.80p -1.57%BC