London midday: UK stocks higher as financials lift sentiment

(ShareCast News) - UK shares advanced as investors shrugged off worse-than-expected data and financials stocks Standard Chartered and London Stock Exchange lifted the FTSE.After first-half pre-tax profits fell 44% and new chief executive Bill Winters increased the focused on its capital ratio and reducing risk, Standard Chartered slashed its interim dividend 50% to cheers from analysts and investors. The dividend cut will save the group approximately $1bn per year, which analysts at Bernstein hailed a "great move" as it would reduce the chances of a rights issue.Shares in the London Stock Exchange meanwhile rallied after it reported a 9% rise in underlying revenue to £1.16bn and hiked its dividend 11% to 10.8p per share.Other corporate earnings providing a boost to the market included Legal & General which posted an 18% rise in first-half operating profit and a 6% increase in pre-tax profit. The insurer said results were driven by strong organic growth in the UK and US, as it raised its interim dividend despite a fall in annuities.Wizz Air and Ryanair were both flying higher after reporting an increase in passenger numbers in July.In economic data, UK services activity slowed in July. The Market/CIPS purchasing managers' index dropped to 57.4 in July from 58.5 a month earlier, missing estimates for a reading of 58. A number above 50 signals expansion in the industry."The slight deterioration in July's UK Markit/CIPS services survey is unlikely to prevent two or three members of the Monetary Policy Committee from voting to raise interest rates at this month's meeting," said Samuel Tombs, senior UK economist at Capital Economics.However, Tombs believes a majority of the Bank of England's MPC members will hold off from voting to raise interest rates until next year, saying CPI inflation is likely to turn negative in the next few months."And with a major fiscal squeeze set to get under way and the euro-zone's crisis rumbling on, the MPC would be wise to be cautious," he added.Earlier, European PMI data was mixed, with Germany and Spain beating estimates, France flat and Italy missing.Further afield, the Caixin purchasing managers' index on Chinese service activity rose to 53.8 in July from 51.8 the previous monthRetail data from the eurozone as down 0.6% month-on-month in June, worse than the 0.2% drop expected by analysts. Sales rose 1.2% in June compared to the same month a year earlier but it was below forecasts for a 2% gain.Later on in the session, ISM publishes its index on the non-manufacturing composite. Analysts predict a reading of 56.2 in July, up from the prior month's 56.Sector-wise mining stocks recovered from losses earlier in the week, including Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton and Anglo American, although gold, silver and copper prices were lower at the midday mark. Oil prices rose slightly with Brent crude up 0.7% to $50.38 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate up 0.5% to $46.00 at 11:36 BST.Greece remained in the spotlight as a parliamentary spokesman for Syriza party Nikos Filis on Wednesday ruled out accepting the bridge loan proposed by the European Commission in July. Filis said country needed a full bailout programme instead. Athens has said it expected a bailout deal with lenders to conclude on 18 August, two days ahead of its deadline to pay off €3.5bn debt to the European Central Bank.The National Institute of Economic and Social Research warned that the country's economy will suffer fresh damage from austerity measures demanded by its creditors. The thinkthank said Greece will remain stuck in permanent depression unless it receives substantial debt relief. Market MoverstechMARK 3,194.40 -0.15%FTSE 100 6,712.32 +0.39%FTSE 250 17,698.99 -0.20%FTSE 100 - RisersBHP Billiton (BLT) 1,197.50p +3.32%Rio Tinto (RIO) 2,544.00p +2.98%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 347.00p +2.36%Glencore (GLEN) 204.65p +2.25%London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) 2,633.00p +2.13%Tesco (TSCO) 214.95p +2.02%Standard Chartered (STAN) 971.40p +1.97%Antofagasta (ANTO) 585.50p +1.91%Legal & General Group (LGEN) 268.00p +1.75%Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 183.70p +1.55%FTSE 100 - FallersTravis Perkins (TPK) 2,160.00p -2.57%Sports Direct International (SPD) 791.50p -2.46%Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 806.00p -2.18%Meggitt (MGGT) 490.70p -2.06%Smiths Group (SMIN) 1,185.00p -1.25%Ashtead Group (AHT) 939.00p -1.16%TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 1,081.00p -1.10%Relx plc (REL) 1,121.00p -0.97%Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 2,362.00p -0.96%Associated British Foods (ABF) 3,212.00p -0.86%FTSE 250 - RisersDrax Group (DRX) 316.00p +2.80%Ladbrokes (LAD) 109.90p +2.71%AO World (AO.) 130.10p +2.52%Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 1,724.00p +2.25%Nostrum Oil & Gas (NOG) 516.00p +2.18%Clarkson (CKN) 2,780.00p +1.98%Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust (ASL) 1,205.00p +1.86%Jimmy Choo (CHOO) 172.30p +1.83%Cineworld Group (CINE) 522.00p +1.56%Electra Private Equity (ELTA) 3,330.00p +1.52%FTSE 250 - FallersSpirax-Sarco Engineering (SPX) 3,116.00p -8.06%Rotork (ROR) 212.20p -4.41%Just Eat (JE.) 406.90p -3.81%Hunting (HTG) 483.00p -3.59%Countrywide (CWD) 498.40p -3.13%BBA Aviation (BBA) 293.80p -2.39%Essentra (ESNT) 920.00p -2.13%Allied Minds (ALM) 454.00p -2.05%Foxtons Group (FOXT) 237.30p -1.86%Atkins (WS) (ATK) 1,551.00p -1.77%FTSE TechMARK - RisersFiltronic (FTC) 9.50p +26.67%XP Power Ltd. (DI) (XPP) 1,750.00p +3.67%Oxford Biomedica (OXB) 9.00p +3.45%NCC Group (NCC) 237.75p +1.71%Sepura (SEPU) 158.00p +1.61%Oxford Instruments (OXIG) 923.00p +0.87%E2V Technologies (E2V) 225.50p +0.33%KCOM Group (KCOM) 96.00p +0.26%Consort Medical (CSRT) 925.00p +0.22%Skyepharma (SKP) 280.00p +0.18%FTSE TechMARK - FallersSpirent Communications (SPT) 79.25p -15.92%Dialight (DIA) 548.00p -1.44%Ricardo (RCDO) 910.00p -1.03%Innovation Group (TIG) 32.25p -0.77%Promethean World (PRW) 38.75p -0.64%IShares Euro Gov Bond 7-10YR UCITS ETF (IEGM) € 201.09 -0.18%SDL (SDL) 385.50p -0.13%