London shares ended mixed on Friday after the first grim data since the Brexit vote pushed sterling lower, giving internationally-exposed blue-chip stocks a boost but punishing UK-centric midcaps.
The FTSE100 index ended up 0.5% at 6,730 – its highest close since early August 2015 – while the midcap FTSE250 index was off 0.4% at 16,983, undoing recent gains which allowed the ticker to hover above 17,000 for the first time since Britain voted to quit the European Union on June 23.
The July Purchasing Managers’ Indices, published by Markit, suggested the UK’s services and manufacturing sectors had both contracted in the wake of the EU referendum, with activity in the service sector at its lowest since 2009, and manufacturing since 2013. The services sector was now as poorly as it was during the credit crisis.
But if the FTSE100 gained – as a weak sterling translates into greater earnings from overseas interests which the diversified companies have – it was bizarre that FTSE250 stocks, which are likely to export goods and also benefit the most from an interest rate cut, did not benefit more from the increased hopes that the Bank of England will cut rates and offer other stimulus measures at its early August meeting.
Furthermore, British finance minister Philip Hammond has suggested that fiscal policy may need to be “reset” at the Autumn Statement. That is likely to see the scrapping of his predecessor George Osborne’s insistence to balance the books by 2020, as more spending and lower taxation may be used to kick start the economy alongside monetary means from the UK’s central bank.
But perhaps the reason the FTSE250 didn't benefit was because the PMIs indicated that the UK economy could shrink by 0.4% in the third quarter of this year that FTSE250 stocks ended lower.
Elsewhere, the FTSE AIM 100 Index closed up 0.3% at 3,533, and the FTSE AIM All-Share Index closed up 0.3% at 740.
Gainers in London were in the minority as 28% of stocks were higher, 30% lower and 41% unchanged.
Two stocks more than doubled their price today. CSF Group PLC (LON:CSFG) closed up a whopping 188% at 1.8p. What was striking was that the data centre facilities and services provider in South east Asia made guarded comments in which it expressed cautious optimism for the year ahead after publishing its full-year results.
The next biggest riser was Superglass (LON:SPGH), up 109.5% at 5.5p after agreeing to a takeover offer from Cyprus-based investment company Inflection Management Corp.
Midsession
A falling pound in the wake of dire UK manufacturing data provided some support to London's top-flight shares on Friday.
Sterling fell more than 1% against the dollar to US$1.309 after purchasing managers' index (PMI) figures showed activity in the sector in July falling to its lowest level since April 2009.
The flash composite PMI reading declined to 47.7 from 52.4 in June, below the consensus of 49, which is still below the 50 threshold indicating growth.
The news boosted equities as some suggested that the Bank of England was now more likely to embark on extra stimulus in August.
Chris Saint at Hargreaves Lansdown Currency Service said: "The data provides early evidence that UK economic activity has taken a significant blow from a Brexit-related shock to confidence.
"There will be some hopes that sentiment can recover in the months ahead, particularly if the weaker pound gives UK manufacturers a helping hand.
"But this could be an important piece in the jigsaw for some Bank of England officials yet to be persuaded that additional stimulus is now needed.”
The FTSE 100 Index pared losses to stand 24.9 points ahead at 6724.8 although the UK-focused FTSE 250 was off 75.3 points at 16972.1.
The small-cap FTSE AIM All-Share gained 1.87 points to 740.14.
CSF Group PLC (LON:CSFG) soared 84% to 1.15p as the South East Asian-focused data centre and service provider reduced annual gross losses to £300,000 from £5.1mln a year earlier.
Cloud-based e-commerce market provider Cloudbuy PLC (LON:CBUY) ticked up 27.6% to 4.625p on news that half-year losses were likely to be a lot lower than beforehand due to cost cutting.
Edenville Energy PLC (LON:EDL) powered up 5.9% to 0.02p after a positive meeting between the Tanzanian coal-to-power project developer and government officials.
But news of a fall in copper cathode production at its Tschudi pit knocked shares in Namibia-focused miner Weatherly International plc (LON:WTI) by 39.1% to 0.35p.
Turkey-focused precious metal explorer Ariana Resources plc (LON:AAU) lost 7.7% to 1.5p as it launched a share placing to raise £445,000.
In the top flight, mobile phone giant Vodafone Group plc (LON:VOD) was the top riser after reporting better than expected first-quarter revenue. Shares rang up 4.5% to 235.25p.
Irish building material company CRH PLC (LON:CRH) also strengthened 3.55% to 2273p as it forecast better-than-expected first-half profits.
The biggest loser was Marks & Spencer Group Plc (LON:MKS), down 2.9% to 319p. The retailer recalled a number of food items over health concerns.
Preview at 6.49am
The FTSE 100 is tipped to go lower on the open after Asian and US stocks fell overnight.
The blue chip benchmark closed yesterday down 0,43% or 29 points at 6,699 but today is called to open around 30 points lower still.
It comes after yesterday markets were disappointed by the ECB's decision yesterday to stand pat on stimulus measures, namely do nothing, and left its interest rate level on hold.
European Central Bank president Mario Draghi said it was too early to determine the fallout of the UK referendum, but did note that financial markets, had shown resilience.
Michael Hewson, at CMC Markets,said in a note this morning:"The decision by the ECB to “wait and see” wasn’t too much of a surprise given concerns about the effects that low rates are already having on bank profitability and the fact that broader economic data hasn’t been that bad, though it is becoming apparent that Mr Draghi may be becoming frustrated at the lack of structural reform from European governments."
Also yesterday, it emerged UK retail sales excluding petrol and diesel sales, fell by 0.9% in June – a faster pace than forecast at down 0.6%.
June’s wet weather was blamed and although the period encompassed the EU “Brexit” referendum, economists said it was too soon to speculate what impact the decision to quit the EU will have on the economy.
Meanwhile, In the US on Thursday, the Dow Jones closed 77 down at 18, 517, while in Asia, Japan's Nikkei crashed over 1.3% in the session to 16,588, while the Shanghai Composite Index shed 0.64% to 3,019.
On the UK corporate front today, Vodafone PLC (LON:VOD) sales were better than expected in this morning’s trading update.
Sales grew by 2.2% against predictions of 1.9%, with emerging markets leading the way, though the UK was weak with sales down 3%.
Broadband subscriptions rose by 348,000, or 32%.