London stocks ended lower on Tuesday, pushed south by falling oil prices and a weaker sterling.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 index shed 0.5% to 6,665, led by miner Anglo American (LON:AAL) down 4.4% at 783.8p.
Brent crude fell by 2.25 to $47.25, pressuring the bourse.
The FTSE 250 index ended down 0.4% at 17,661 and led by groceries distributor Ocado Group (LON:OCDO) down 13.7% to 278p. Ocado claimed its best quarterly volume growth in four years, although a slight acceleration in group revenue growth in the third quarter thanks to the WM Morrison Supermarkets (LON:MRW) deal was overshadowed by comments about the tough margin environment.
Average order size also continued its decline and there remained "sustained and continuing margin pressure", said chief executive Tim Steiner.
Shares in Associated British Foods (LON:ABF) fell a further 2.2% to 2751p. Its shares had sunk 11% on Monday after it disclosed a £200mln pension deficit and said sales at its Primark chain had been affected by unseasonable weather.
JD Sports (LON:JD. shares rose 4.7% to 1396p after it reported a 73% jump in half-year profits to £77.4mln.
Earlier, sterling sank against the US dollar after UK data showed that August inflation had held steady at 0.6%.
Although no one realistically expects a rate hike in the UK post-Brexit, sterling came off because most economists had expected a small rise to 0.7% last month as the 11% drop in the pound after the Brexit vote is forecast to stoke inflationary pressures in the economy.
The FTSE AIM 100 Index edged 0.1% lower, outperforming larger stocks, while the wider FTSE AIM All-Share Index managed to gain on the day, up 0.1% to 801.
London gainers were 31% of the market on Tuesday, as were losers, while unchanged represented 37%.
London’s top gainer was Johnston Press (LON:JPR) up 70% to 15p. The company said it knew of no “operation or corporate reason for the price movement.”
The company added that “as announced on 4 Augus, the Group continues to actively explore opportunities for the disposal of further assets. These discussions continue to progress satisfactorily. Further announcements will be made as appropriate.”
The top faller was TyraTech (LON:TYR) down 27.5% to 1.875p after the company warned results will miss expectations.
UPDATE AT 3.05pm
In mid-afternoon FTSE 100 was up but not by much as investors continued to sit on their hands.
The UK blue-chip benchmark was 15 points ahead, or just 0.24% at 6,715.
FTSE 250- the more UK- aligned measure of the UK's business performance, was up 36 at 17,766.
In small caps, FTSE AIM 100 was 0.21% up at 3,806 and the FTSE AIM ALL share was 0.12% higher at 802.530.
It comes as Brent crude took a hit, on fears surrounding oversupply swirled after the International Energy Agency said demand would expand less than previously estimated.
Brent crude was down 0.33% to US$48.25 a barrel.
The release of August’s inflation figures has not frightened the horses but neither has it provided new impetus for the FTSE 100.
The top-share index was up 17 points at 6,718 early in the lunch-time session, despite Primark owner Associated British Foods PLC (LON:ABF) remaining in the dog-house after yesterday’s warning about pressure on margins at the cheap clothing peddler.
Things are no more exciting on Aim, where the FTSE AIM 100 index was up five points at 3,804, while the FTSE AIM All-Shares was a third of a point firmer at 802.
ATTRAQT Group plc (LON:ATQT) was providing some cheer, jumping 16% on the back of interim results. The retail web site build specialist saw sales rise 25% to £1.7mln from a year earlier.
Head lice products producer TyraTech PLC (LON:TYR) found the market hard to please with its half-year figures.
Management must be scratching their head as the market lopped a third of the value of the company’s shares despite it unveiling a 31% increase in sales.
Whitman Howard reduced its full-year revenue forecast from US$10.4mln to US$7.5mln, citing slower than expected market demand for head lice treatment and longer than expected lead times for TyraTech’s animal health products.
London open
FTSE 100 was struggling for momentum in early deals as traders continue to mull mixed global messages.
The blue chip benchmark is up just 0.03% at the time of writing, to stand at 6,701, while small cap shares were a tad lower too.
The FTSE AIM 100 is 0.75 down at 3,795, while the FTSE AIM All share is 0.04% down at 801.240.
Chris Beauchamp, at IG Index, said the first week of September had lulled investors into a false sense of security, broadly replicating as they did the range bound trading of July and August.
"Events billed as vital, such as the European Central Bank meeting, were actually relatively quiet in terms of market reaction. Instead, it was a speech by Eric Rosengren, not usually the most closely-followed Federal Reserve member that was blamed for the sell-off.
Top of the Footsie pile is IAG (LON:IAG) as the airline giant saw shares fly 2.25% higher at 426.5p. Mining titan Anglo Asian plc (LON:AAL) also went higher, adding 2.62% to stand at 798.65p a pop.
Associated British Foods (LON:ABF) was again falling lower, after its results yesterday failed to impress.
In small cap world, Corero Network (LON:CNS) dropped over 33% to stand at 13.25p as it warned revenues for the full-year would be “notably below market expectations”.
However, the demand for its award-winning SmartWall TDS real-time defence against distributed denial of service (DDoS) was significantly higher as it has landed ‘significant’ orders both in Europe and the US.
Meanwhile, continued traction of its head lice shampoo Vamoose saw TyraTech Inc (LON:TYR, LON:TYRU) the life sciences group was also down over 25% to stand at 2.50p as it revealed the firm's rate of growth will be lower than previously anticipated and revenue and net loss for the full year will be below market expectations.
Opening snapshot at 8.15am
The FTSE 100 was up 20 points to 6,721 at open this morning.
The top winner was GlaxoSmithKline (LON:GSK) up more than 1% to 1,610p.
The biggest loser was Associated British Foods (LON:ABF), down 2% to 2,754p.
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Preview at 6.52am
UK stocks should start moderately firmer this morning, with the FTSE 100 set to claw back some of yesterday’s losses.
US markets closed firmer overnight, providing encouragement for buyers to return to the UK market.
Spread betting quotes indicate the top-share index will kick off at around the 6,728 level, up from last night’s close of 6,700.
US investors took heart from comments by Fed governor Lael Brainard that implied at least one member of the Fed’s policy making committee was in no hurry to hike interest rates any time soon.
The benchmark S&P 500 advanced 1.5% to finish at 2,159 while the more narrowly-based Dow Jones climbed 1.3% to 18,325.
Asian markets were on the front foot heading into the last hour of trading, bouncing back from the shellacking they received on Monday.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 was up 64 points, or 0.4%, at 16,737, while in Hong Kong the Hang Seng index was 204 points to the good at 23,489, up 0.9%.
Closer to home, on the corporate front, investors will be keen to hear how Ocado Group PLC (LON:OCDO) is faring under pressure from online rivals when the grocery distributor updates the market.
The City will also be on the look-out for any news of long-awaited partnerships with overseas firms to use the UK company's advanced retail technology.
Numis Securities expects retail sales growth of 13.5% in the third quarter, but says declines in basket value will partly offset that.
The broker's Andrew Wade added: "With recent press coverage suggesting Morrisons could spark another round in the price war, this dynamic looks unlikely to change in the near future.
"More broadly, we will be interested to hear of any impact from Amazon Fresh following its recent launch.
"Ocado shares have had a strong recent run, but we retain our positive stance, continuing to believe that central fulfilment is the right model for grocers long-term."
Elsewhere, Numis said first-half results from Hilton Food Group plc (LON:HFG) should be solid.
Analyst Charles Pick said: "The trading updates of May 25 and July 21 were favourable and indicated that volume growth featured, including in the UK, Holland, the Republic of Ireland and Central Europe."
Around the markets
Sterling: US$1.3329, down US$0.0007.
Gold for December delivery: US$1,332.80 an ounce, up US$7.10 (0.5%)
Brent crude for November delivery: US$48.01 a barrel, down 31 cents (0.6%)
West Texas intermediate for October delivery: US$45.91, down 38 cents (0.8%)
Headlines
Investors put Micro Focus pay under microscope: The board of Micro Focus is under pressure to water down a potentially lucrative deal-based share scheme before its annual shareholder meeting next week – The Times
Senior company bosses could be prosecuted for fraud committed by staff in new crackdown: Senior corporate executives could be prosecuted for offences including fraud and money laundering carried out by staff under an expansion of laws targeting so-called white-collar crime – The Independent
Ex-trade minister Francis Maude says British firms not lazy but 'too comfortable': Former trade minister Francis Maude has defended British businesses from his successor Liam Fox, who claimed that companies are “too fat and too lazy” and should work harder to export more – The Daily Telegraph
Study: big corporations dominate list of world's top economic entities: The world’s biggest corporations have increased their wealth compared with nation states in the last year, illustrating the growing power of multinational businesses – The Guardian