London midday: FTSE rally loses steam as pharma, telecoms stocks fall

(Sharecast News) - The FTSE 100 was on track to snap a 16-day winning streak on Wednesday as investors showed caution ahead of a central bank meeting in the US, with heavy losses in the telecoms and pharma sectors weighing on the index.

The Footsie, which has finished every trading session since 9 April in positive territory, was trading around 0.3% lower at 8,572 by the midday mark in London. Investors were likely taking profits following the longest win streak on record, which has seen the benchmark index surge nearly 12% over the past four weeks.

A rise in geopolitical tensions was also likely hitting risk appetite after India launched missile strikes on Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir. Meanwhile, US and Chinese officials are reportedly set to meet at the weekend to begin trade negotiations, though Beijing warned against what it said might be an "attempt to continue to coerce and blackmail under the guise of talks".

However, the Federal Open Market Committee meeting, set to finish at 1930 GMT, "undoubtedly provides the main event of note", according to Joshua Mahony, chief market analyst at Scope Markets, "with traders watching out for commentary from Powell over the direction of travel for rates in the face of economic uncertainty".

He said: "The sheer number of unknowns mean that we are highly unlikely to see the Fed cut rates this time around. However, the events of the past week have also seen markets lose confidence over the potential for a June cut, with a pause going from a 33% outside chance to the 70% base case."

In UK economic news, the S&P Global UK construction PMI was 46.6 last month, down on March's 46.4 but ahead of analyst expectations for a further fall, to 45.7. Respondents said rising business uncertainty meant decisions on new projects were being delayed, leading to further declines in total order books and increased job losses.

Pharma and telecom stocks fall

Shares in GSK and AstraZeneca came under pressure on Wednesday, after vaccine-sceptic Vinay Prasad was appointed to a key role at the US Food and Drug Administration. Prasad, an oncologist who has been vocal in his criticism of the FDA's leadership as well as Covid-19 mandates, will oversee the regulation of costly biologic drugs, including vaccines, gene therapies and blood supply, and is widely expected to tighten up vaccine approvals, likely leading to much longer approval timelines for new drugs.

Vodafone was trading lower after revealing that its finance chief announced his decision to step down to join another company. Luke Mucic was to leave the telecoms operator no later than "early 2026" to join German real estate firm Vonovia.

Sector peer BT was also among the worst performers, while Spirent Communications underwhelmed with an in-line trading update for the first quarter.

Defence blue chip BAE Systems was in the red despite reaffirming its full-year 2025 guidance following a steady first quarter as it highlighted strong operational performance and a robust order backlog.

Shares in Trainline fell sharply after the online rail ticketing platform said net ticket sales growth would be lower this financial year as it faced potential headwinds from global macroeconomic uncertainty and the expansion of Transport for London's contactless travel zone.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 8,571.64 -0.30%

FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,323.59 -0.14%

techMARK (TASX) 4,613.65 -1.25%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Entain (ENT) 706.00p 2.65%

Glencore (GLEN) 252.10p 1.76%

Imperial Brands (IMB) 3,173.00p 1.67%

Smurfit Westrock (DI) (SWR) 2,997.00p 1.49%

Prudential (PRU) 826.40p 1.40%

Diageo (DGE) 2,185.00p 1.35%

JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 82.24p 1.33%

Pershing Square Holdings Ltd NPV (PSH) 3,646.00p 1.22%

International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 285.00p 1.21%

Bunzl (BNZL) 2,430.00p 1.17%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

GSK (GSK) 1,389.50p -4.17%

BT Group (BT.A) 163.65p -3.39%

Vodafone Group (VOD) 71.24p -2.38%

SEGRO (SGRO) 674.00p -2.09%

AstraZeneca (AZN) 10,518.00p -1.70%

St James's Place (STJ) 994.40p -1.64%

Associated British Foods (ABF) 1,989.00p -1.53%

Convatec Group (CTEC) 255.20p -1.47%

Kingfisher (KGF) 288.80p -1.47%

Next (NXT) 12,275.00p -1.41%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Victrex plc (VCT) 903.00p 6.61%

Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 71.70p 3.31%

Kier Group (KIE) 157.00p 3.02%

Kainos Group (KNOS) 771.00p 2.80%

Crest Nicholson Holdings (CRST) 193.90p 2.76%

Energean (ENOG) 884.00p 2.67%

Close Brothers Group (CBG) 328.60p 2.11%

Alpha Group International (ALPH) 3,107.50p 1.89%

SSP Group (SSPG) 161.10p 1.64%

International Workplace Group (IWG) 187.00p 1.58%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

RHI Magnesita N.V. (DI) (RHIM) 3,095.00p -4.62%

Trainline (TRN) 268.40p -4.14%

Auction Technology Group (ATG) 587.00p -3.77%

Ferrexpo (FXPO) 62.60p -3.25%

Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) 122.90p -2.61%

Genus (GNS) 2,040.00p -2.39%

Domino's Pizza Group (DOM) 263.40p -2.15%

Vistry Group (VTY) 628.80p -2.15%

Harworth Group (HWG) 168.50p -2.03%

Big Yellow Group (BYG) 1,006.00p -1.95%