London midday: FTSE dips into the red; Nvidia results eyed

(Sharecast News) - London stocks had dipped into the red by midday on Wednesday, reversing earlier small gains, as investors eyed results from Nvidia after the US close.

The FTSE 100 was down 0.2% at 8,764.97.

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: "The FTSE 100 ticked higher after an increase in US consumer confidence and a delay on the punishing EU tariffs announced by the Trump administration helped US stocks to surge overnight.

"However, with US futures pointing to some retrenchment when Wall Street resumes trading later, it's clear there is still some latent nervousness in the market.

"Quite a lot may ride on Nvidia's results later, with investors likely to be watching the numbers and particularly the outlook closely to see what impact, if any, tariff uncertainty is having on the business."

On home shores, data from consumer research firm Kantar showed that grocery price inflation has risen to its highest level in 15 months, as retailers hike prices to adapt to higher payroll costs.

Compared with last year, grocery prices were up 4.1% over the four weeks to 18 May, with inflation accelerating from the 3.8% reported the previous four weeks.

That was the highest year-on-year increase since February 2024, according to Kantar.

The pick-up in inflation was thought to be a result of higher employer national insurance contributions and the increased National Living Wage rate which both came into effect in April.

"This latest jump in grocery price inflation takes us into new territory for 2025," said Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar.

"Households have been adapting their buying habits to manage budgets for some time, but we typically see changes in behaviour once inflation tips beyond the 3% to 4% point as people notice the impact on their wallets more."

The news came as take-home grocery sales rose 4.4% year-on-year over the same period, with May's unseasonably warm weather driving sales of barbecue food - chilled burger sales were up 27% over last year, while potato salad sales surged 32% - and sun cream.

In equity markets, B&Q and Castorama owner Kingfisher fell as it reported a small increase in underlying sales in its first quarter as continued weakness across its French operations was offset by strong growth in the UK and Ireland.

Greggs was knocked lower by a downgrade to 'hold' from 'buy' at Shore Capital, which said that as investment reaches its peak, it sees little to stimulate the shares.

Rentokil gained after agreeing to sell its Workwear business in France to H. I. G Capital for around �410m (�344m).

IT infrastructure group Softcat rallied as it raised its guidance for full-year profit growth after a stronger-than-expected third-quarter performance.

Bulmers cider maker C&C was also higher as it said it expects a limited impact from US tariffs, held annual guidance and reported a jump in profits for 2024/25, while Pets at Home rose after the company's full-year results met consensus expectations.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 8,764.97 -0.15%

FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,984.50 0.22%

techMARK (TASX) 4,821.73 -0.01%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 2,156.00p 2.08%

Pershing Square Holdings Ltd NPV (PSH) 3,942.00p 1.70%

Unite Group (UTG) 831.50p 1.40%

Intermediate Capital Group (ICG) 2,048.00p 1.39%

SEGRO (SGRO) 673.60p 1.29%

Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 862.60p 1.29%

Flutter Entertainment (DI) (FLTR) 18,170.00p 1.28%

Intertek Group (ITRK) 4,842.00p 1.21%

Fresnillo (FRES) 1,134.00p 1.07%

Babcock International Group (BAB) 929.50p 1.03%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Kingfisher (KGF) 285.90p -3.35%

Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 285.20p -2.66%

3i Group (III) 4,075.00p -1.50%

Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 3,934.00p -1.40%

JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 82.66p -1.10%

Smurfit Westrock (DI) (SWR) 3,256.00p -1.09%

Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 77.74p -0.94%

Diageo (DGE) 2,012.00p -0.94%

Aviva (AV.) 614.20p -0.94%

Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,063.00p -0.89%

FTSE 250 - Risers

PayPoint (PAY) 725.00p 6.15%

Bloomsbury Publishing (BMY) 519.00p 4.74%

Bytes Technology Group (BYIT) 515.50p 3.72%

Indivior (INDV) 887.50p 3.14%

Chemring Group (CHG) 465.50p 3.10%

Harbour Energy (HBR) 182.30p 2.94%

International Workplace Group (IWG) 188.00p 2.68%

THG (THG) 24.90p 2.64%

Hammerson (HMSO) 281.20p 2.48%

C&C Group (CDI) (CCR) 158.40p 2.33%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) 127.40p -3.41%

Greggs (GRG) 2,058.00p -2.83%

Dr. Martens (DOCS) 54.65p -2.50%

W.A.G Payment Solutions (WPS) 64.20p -2.13%

Domino's Pizza Group (DOM) 260.20p -2.11%

Ferrexpo (FXPO) 57.50p -2.04%

Close Brothers Group (CBG) 337.80p -1.97%

Mobico Group (MCG) 28.64p -1.92%

Pagegroup (PAGE) 266.40p -1.84%

CMC Markets (CMCX) 277.00p -1.77%