London midday: Stocks turn higher but gains muted as energy firms fall

(Sharecast News) - London stocks had turned positive by midday on Thursday but gains were muted despite better-than-expected UK GDP figures, as declining oil prices weighed on energy firms.

The FTSE 100 was up 0.1% at 8,591.35.

Data released earlier by the Office for National Statistics showed that the economy grew more than expected in the first three months of the year.

Gross domestic product rose 0.7% in the first quarter, up from 0.1% growth in the final quarter of last year and ahead of consensus expectations for 0.6% growth.

The ONS said growth was driven largely by a 0.7% increase in the services sector, while production grew 1.1% and the construction sector showed no growth.

ONS director of economic statistics Liz McKeown said: "The economy grew strongly in the first quarter of the year, largely driven by services, though production also grew significantly, after a period of decline.

"Growth in services was broad based, with wholesale, retail and computer programming all having a strong quarter as did car leasing and advertising. These were only slightly offset by falls in education, telecoms and legal services."

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: "A big pullback in oil prices weighed on markets across Europe.

"Traders focused on the prospect of a US/Iran nuclear deal which could see economic sanctions lifted on the latter and potentially lead to greater supplies of oil. That weighed on shares in BP and Shell which pulled down the FTSE 100. Commodities trader Glencore was also weak."

In equity markets, JD Sports was the top performer on the FTSE 100 following a report that US peer Dick's Sporting Goods is nearing a deal to buy Foot Locker for around $2.3bn.

National Grid advanced after its full-year earnings beat forecasts.

Aviva gained as the insurer said it was confident in achieving its group targets after a "great start" to 2025, with premiums rising by almost a tenth.

Serco shot up after it was awarded three contracts with a combined value of over �1bn by the UK Ministry of Defence to provide maritime services for the Royal Navy.

Watches of Switzerland rallied as it reported a jump in full-year revenues as it returned to growth in the UK and US.

On the downside, Sage Group slumped even as the enterprise software firm extended its share buyback plan by �200m after a strong first half.

3i Group fell sharply as its full-year total return of �5bn missed market expectations.

Oil giants BP and Shell gushed lower as oil prices slid.

Spectris and PageGroup both lost ground as they traded without entitlement to the dividend.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 8,591.35 0.07%

FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,796.37 -0.11%

techMARK (TASX) 4,677.37 -0.01%

FTSE 100 - Risers

JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 94.54p 5.02%

National Grid (NG.) 1,047.50p 3.15%

Compass Group (CPG) 2,610.00p 2.76%

International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 324.50p 2.59%

Smurfit Westrock (DI) (SWR) 3,510.00p 2.33%

Aviva (AV.) 585.20p 2.31%

Fresnillo (FRES) 1,003.00p 2.19%

Babcock International Group (BAB) 839.50p 2.07%

BAE Systems (BA.) 1,732.50p 1.85%

Vodafone Group (VOD) 69.60p 1.84%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

The Sage Group (SGE) 1,219.50p -4.69%

3i Group (III) 4,004.00p -4.60%

BP (BP.) 370.00p -2.89%

Admiral Group (ADM) 3,244.00p -2.76%

InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 9,048.00p -2.18%

St James's Place (STJ) 1,074.50p -2.01%

Shell (SHEL) 2,465.50p -1.95%

Tesco (TSCO) 361.10p -1.90%

CRH (CDI) (CRH) 7,248.00p -1.79%

WPP (WPP) 598.40p -1.64%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Serco Group (SRP) 183.90p 5.09%

Just Group (JUST) 147.60p 3.65%

Watches of Switzerland Group (WOSG) 405.60p 2.94%

Travis Perkins (TPK) 628.50p 2.36%

Investec (INVP) 499.00p 2.34%

HICL Infrastructure (HICL) 112.80p 2.17%

British Land Company (BLND) 403.40p 2.02%

OSB Group (OSB) 481.00p 1.78%

Baltic Classifieds Group (BCG) 376.00p 1.62%

North Atlantic Smaller Companies Inv Trust (NAS) 3,800.00p 1.60%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Lion Finance Group (BGEO) 6,140.00p -9.04%

Auction Technology Group (ATG) 509.00p -6.95%

Pagegroup (PAGE) 270.00p -6.05%

Spectris (SXS) 2,080.00p -4.85%

Indivior (INDV) 808.50p -3.86%

Ferrexpo (FXPO) 67.00p -3.74%

TBC Bank Group (TBCG) 4,460.00p -3.67%

Diversified Energy Company (DEC) 1,024.00p -3.67%

Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 81.15p -2.64%

THG (THG) 27.66p -2.54%