London midday: FTSE steady after hitting fresh high, as BoE stands pat

(Sharecast News) - London stocks had pared earlier gains to trade flat by midday after the top-flight index hit a fresh high, as the Bank of England stood pat on rates, with strong performances from Rolls-Royce and heavily-weighted miners lending a hand.

The FTSE 100 was steady at 10,908.83, having hit a fresh high of 10,979.60 earlier.

The top-flight index was proving resilient in the aftermath of a selloff on Wall Street, after the Federal Reserve kept the funds rate unchanged at 3.5% to 3.75%, as expected, but with three policymakers having voted for a 25 basis points hike. This raised speculation about a potential hike in July.

On home shores, the BoE left Bank Rate unchanged at 3.75%, as widely expected. The Monetary Policy Committee voted by a majority of 6-3 to leaves rates on hold. Megan Greene, Catherine Mann and Huw Pill all voted in favour of a 25 basis points hike at the July meeting.

In commodities, oil prices eased back again, having risen after the US carried out strikes on Iran and Trump warned it would be hit "hard" following a "surprise attack" on American bases in the Middle East. Brent crude was down 0.2% at $90.60 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate was 0.6% lower at $83.96.

In equity markets, mining stocks were among the top performers on the FTSE 100 as copper prices rose, with Rio Tinto, Antofagasta and Anglo American all up.

Rolls-Royce surged as it lifted its full-year profit guidance following a strong first half. It now expects �4.7bn to �4.9bn in underlying operating profits and �3.8bn to �4bn of free cash flow, up from previous ranges of �4.0bn to �4.2bn and �3.6bn to �3.8bn, respectively.

BAE Systems was also higher as it upgraded full-year guidance and reported a jump in first-half profit as governments ramped up defence investments.

Shell rose as the energy major launched a $3bn share buyback after more than doubling profits in the second quarter as oil prices soared and upstream production hit record levels in Brazil.

Lloyds Banking Group gained as it held annual guidance after a 23% jump in half-year profits driven by higher net interest income and announced a �1bn share buyback, while Mondi advanced after better-than-expected first-half results.

On the downside, Rentokil Initial tumbled after the pest control firm ditched its margin target for North America and said it had seen some weakness in residential lead flow in the region towards the end of the second quarter and into July.

LSEG was also in the red despite lifting its full-year guidance as it hailed a record first-half performance and an "exceptional" performance from the markets businesses.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 10,908.83 0.00%

FTSE 250 (MCX) 24,056.85 0.25%

techMARK (TASX) 6,086.67 -0.85%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 1,452.60p 5.38%

Antofagasta (ANTO) 3,673.00p 3.73%

Anglo American (AAL) 3,715.00p 3.41%

Fresnillo (FRES) 2,555.00p 3.10%

Rio Tinto (RIO) 7,175.00p 2.87%

Standard Chartered (STAN) 2,213.00p 2.60%

Investec (INVP) 644.50p 2.46%

Croda International (CRDA) 3,294.00p 2.27%

Diploma (DPLM) 7,255.00p 1.97%

Prudential (PRU) 1,117.50p 1.87%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Rentokil Initial (RTO) 362.10p -18.00%

London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) 8,860.00p -3.74%

Haleon (HLN) 367.10p -2.90%

GSK (GSK) 1,948.00p -2.79%

AstraZeneca (AZN) 12,770.00p -2.65%

The Sage Group (SGE) 996.00p -2.56%

Relx plc (REL) 2,805.00p -2.44%

Imperial Brands (IMB) 2,858.00p -2.25%

Flutter Entertainment (DI) (FLTR) 8,020.00p -2.07%

British American Tobacco (BATS) 4,639.00p -1.75%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Mondi (MNDI) 880.20p 11.98%

Ocado Group (OCDO) 206.40p 5.54%

Helios Towers (HTWS) 212.00p 4.85%

Breedon Group (BREE) 327.80p 3.99%

Genuit Group (GEN) 276.20p 3.85%

Ceres Power Holdings (CWR) 317.40p 3.39%

Pan African Resources (PAF) 95.95p 3.35%

Oxford Biomedica (OXB) 564.00p 3.30%

Pets at Home Group (PETS) 214.40p 3.16%

Greencoat UK Wind (UKW) 109.30p 3.11%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Hays (HAS) 62.00p -4.10%

AEP Plantations (AEP) 168.00p -3.45%

Globaldata (DATA) 81.40p -3.10%

WPP (WPP) 311.40p -3.07%

IP Group (IPO) 61.70p -2.99%

Mony Group (MONY) 207.20p -2.82%

Kainos Group (KNOS) 904.50p -2.58%

Henderson Far East Income Ltd. (HFEL) 249.00p -2.54%

Worldwide Healthcare Trust (WWH) 382.00p -2.43%

Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 1,593.00p -2.09%