FTSE 100 lower
FTSE 250 higher
Pound down 0.39% against the US dollar to trade at $1.22
Sterling lower against the euro, down 0.18% at 1.15 euros
FTSE 100 shares ended down on Wednesday with sterling nursing a seven-week low despite a lift for construction stocks following the UK Finance Minister’s Budget pledge of a mini Trump boost to infrastructure.
Sterling ended at its lowest against the US dollar since mid-January and was near seven-week lows against the euro too.
The FTSE 100 lost 0.06% to 7,335, in spite of the normal lift blue-chip stocks with foreign assets or export orders receive when sterling weakens. The top decliners included miners, with Randgold Resources (LON:RRS) off 2.3% at 7000p and Anglo American down 1.8% at 1204.5p.
During his speech, Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond stood by plans to boost infrastructure spending as he upgraded official growth forecasts for 2017 which he took as a cue to justify the pledge on infrastructure.
Read: Chancellor delivers conservative Spring Budget as Brexit looms
In November, the UK government pledged to spend £23bn on rail, road and telecoms projects over the next five years.
Shares in construction companies outperformed the market, with the FTSE's construction and materials index closing 0.3% higher.
Civil engineering firm Costain (LON:COST) hit a new record high at 421.18p before easing back to close 0.25% higher at 415.77p. Taylor Wimpey (LON:TW. advanced by 0.8% to 188.9p
The mid-cap FTSE 250 ended up 0.24% at 18,931 and led by Restaurant Group (LON:RTN) up 13.2% at 370.5p after the owner of Frankie & Benny's and Garfunkel's maintained its dividend.
But Restaurant Group said 2016 was challenging following poor trading across its leisure brands with like-for-like sales down. Revenue was up 3.7% to £710.7mln but like-for-like sales were down 3.9% compared to the previous year.
The FTSE AIM 100 Index closed up 0.3% at 4432 and the FTSE AIM All-Share Index added 0.1% to 916.
London gainers and losers were evenly matched at 32%.
1530 GMT - FTSE 100 rallies modestly after Budget damp squib
FTSE 100 up around 3 points, recovering from falls
Budget pretty uneventful
Banks rally as UK growth upgraded
Foxtons blames Brexit for plummeting profits
3.30pm … FTSE ticks higher …
The FTSE 100 index pushed higher in late afternoon trading, adding around 3 points at 7,341, recovering from earlier falls as banks rallied following today’s first-ever Budget from Philip Hammond, helped by a hike in UK growth forecasts.
Overall though the Chancellor’s pronouncements were fairly unexciting, with sterling barely moved by the statement, staying around 0.3% weaker versus both the US dollar and the euro at US$1.2157 and €1.1516 respectively.
Neil Wilson, senior market analyst at ETX Capital, said: “Spreadsheet Phil cracked a few jokes but this was a Budget pretty low on content as far as investors are concerned – the reduction in the tax free dividend allowance aside.
“This was a dry run for the new autumn set piece when he will know a lot more about what the Brexit landscape looks like.”
He added: “Investors will be concerned about the reduction in the tax free dividend allowance to £2,000.
“This move will affect directors and shareholders and could lead to some adjustments that are yet to be factored in. Maybe we’ll see some dividends brought forward before this takes effect in April 2018..?”
There was little to excite either in early trading across the Atlantic today, with US markets mixed – the blue chips Dow Jones slipping nearly 12 points lower, but the broader S&P 500 and tech-laden Nasdaq composite both ticking higher.
Doubts about the implementation of President Donald Trump’s economic policies instilled a sense of caution in the market ahead of the latest US jobs data, due this Friday, and Federal Reserve policy meeting next week.
12.45pm ... Bumbling along ...
Shortly after the Chancellor started his Budget speech the FTSE 100 was bumbling along at around 7,322, down 17 points on the day.
Insurance titan Legal & General Group PLC (LON:LGEN) was dragging the top-share index down, shedding 1.7% after announcing full-year results.
Profit before tax was up 17% to £1.6 billion, L&G reported.
Clothes maker Bagir Group Ltd (LON:BGIR) proved it was not all mouth and no trousers as it returned to profit in 2016. The shares shot up 29% as the company's turnaround story continued.
10.05am ... All quiet on the western front ...
Not much has happened so far this morning and most traders seem to think that will continue until we hear from the Chancellor later this afternoon.
The FTSE 100 was up 7 points, or 0.01%, to 7,345 shortly after 10am on Wednesday.
As for what the Chancellor might discuss, tax hikes for the self-employed have been mooted, while social care and schools are also tipped to be high on Philip Hammond’s agenda.
“Growth forecasts (which are likely to be revised from 1.4% to 1.9% for 2017) and the Brexit war-chest (expected to come in at a sizeable £60 billion) should be the most pertinent items in Philip Hammond’s big red box market-wise,” wrote Spreadex analyst Connor Campbell.
“As for the FTSE, the UK index appears to be back in one of its stagnant periods. It could, however, receive a pick me up (or indeed a knock down) dependent on what surprises Hammond has in store this afternoon.”
After a swift hammering yesterday morning, Worldpay Group PLC (LON:WPG) was the top riser among the blue chips this morning as investors changed their tune on Tuesday’s results.
The payments company is up 2.2% so far today, clawing back yesterday’s losses and more to trade at 278.4p.
Another company bouncing back from a sell-off on Tuesday was Paddy Power Betfair plc (LON:PPB).
The bookie lost more than 5% of its market value following a disappointing set of full-years, although investor sentiment is picking up this morning. Shares in the company are up 40p to £83.10.
In the small caps, e-commerce enabler Blur Group PLC (LON:BLUR) was up again following a massive surge on Tuesday.
The company’s market value more than doubled yesterday and it’s added another 25% or so again this morning to trade at 20p.
Foxtons Group PLC (LON:FOXT) eased lower this morning after its results revealed a 23% fall in sales revenues in 2016.
The London-focused estate agent said the downturn had been brought on by a “marked step down in activity in the second half” following the Brexit duty.
As well as the referendum, Foxtons also blamed stamp duty increases for a sharp fall in pre-tax profits, which collapsed more than 50% to £19mln.
9.00am ... FTSE 100 drifts lower as traders keep powder dry ahead of Budget ...
The FTSE 100 got off to a rather tepid start ahead of Philip Hammond’s first Budget, drifting just under eight points lower to 7,331.01.
Powder was being kept dry ahead of the Chancellor’s set-piece, which is expected to focus on education as well as serving up a thin and watery version of predecessor George Osborne’s austerity programme.
Movements were muted early on with the large integrated miners topping the leader board.
Counter-balancing this was the performances of the explorers for and diggers of precious metals as gold continued to drift lower.
Randgold Resources (LON:RRS) was the Footie’s biggest casualty, dropping 2%.
Relegated G4S (LON:GFS) led the mid-caps with an 8% rise after posting better than expected annual results, while the major faller (down 14%) was the funeral group Dignity (LON:DTY) which sounded the earnings alert.
Here’s a rather ghoulish line from the prelims statement – ‘deaths were broadly flat at 590,000 and higher than originally anticipated’. Imagine being the Dignity bean counter having to predict those sort of trends
Proactive news headlines
Steel fuel cells developer Ceres Power Holdings PLC (LON:CWR) saw its first-half revenues more than triple and is aiming for them to at least double for its full-year.
ValiRx Plc (LON:VAL) is to set up a third centre for the dosing trial of lung cancer treatment VAl401 and will seek permission to release mid-trial data. A second clinic in Tbilisi, Georgia, has just started recruiting patients, but ValiRx now wants to utilise the City’s Research Institute of Clinical Medicine as a third site. Shares rose 3% to 2.05p.
Bezant Resources PLC’s (LON:BZT) alluvial platinum mine in Colombia can produce at well below the current market price, a new scoping study has indicated. Estimated 5-year average production costs were approximately US$700 per ounce for both platinum and gold produced.
Northern Petroleum Plc (LON:NOP) provided a small taster of the opportunities on offer in Canada with a modest acquisition at very little cost. It is taking control of six shut-in production wells near its Rainbow assets in Alberta.
Construction materials group Breedon Group PLC (LON:BREE) saw its trading performance transformed in 2016 by the acquisition of Hope Construction Materials. Profit before tax shot up 50% on the back of a 43% increase in revenue.
BATM Advanced Communications Limited (LON:BVC), gave an upbeat assessment of prospects as alongside its annual results.
Sound Energy PLC (LON:SOU) has begun drilling the hotly-anticipated Badile well in Italy. To date the company has scored significant success at Tendrara, in Morocco.
Fast-growing remote meetings enabler LoopUp Group PLC (LON:LOOP) saw underlying earnings (EBITDA) double last year, prompting a 9.4% rise in the share price.
eSports group Gfinity Plc (LON:GFIN) has announced that Street Fighter V, one of the most successful fighting video game titles, will be the second game to feature in its Elite Series, launching later this year.
Nanobiotix SA (EPA:NANO) will showcase data from pre-clinical studies to the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting in April to highlight the flexibility of its pioneering cancer treatment.
Oil and gas company Independent Resources plc (LON:IRG) has confirmed that it is preparing the documentation for an open offer to existing shareholders to raise £1.5mln.
6.45am ... FTSE 100 predicted to be in wait-and-see mode ...
Ahead of today's Budget speech UK investors are perhaps understandably in wait-and-see mode.
Spread betting quotes suggest the FTSE 100 will open nine or 10 points down from last night's close of 7,339.
There was no encouragement to be found from US markets, which retreated for the third session in a row yesterday.
The S&P 500 sell seven points to 2,368 and the Dow Jones dipped 26 points to 20,925.
In Tokyo, heading towards the end of the session the Nikkei 225 was following the US lower, down 90 points at 19,254.
In Hong Kong, however, the Hang Seng index was up 104 at 23,784.
In the UK the focus may be on the Budget speech but there is still a busy schedule of company updates expected.
Security services group G4S PLC (LON:GFS) reports its full year results with pundits expecting the company to talk up how it is set to benefit from the new US administration’s pledge to boost military spending.
US President Donald Trump has said he plans to increase defence spending by a record US$54bn, which could lend support to the company’s results once the money comes rolling into the sector.
For car insurer Admiral Group PLC (LON:ADM), the onus is likely to be on the effects of the changes to the Ogden rate – the discount rate courts use when calculating insurance pay-outs.
Analysts are expecting full-year revenues of £2.08bn and pre-tax profit of £340mln.
The company pays handsome dividends but that policy may be modified in view of the Ogden rate changes.
Newspaper headlines
- Japan’s SoftBank is set to sell a roughly US$8bn stake in Arm, the UK chip designer it purchased only six months ago, placing 25 per cent of Britain’s largest technology company into a new, Saudi-backed $100bn investment fund, writes the FT.
- Metro, the free morning paper, has overtaken The Sun and the Daily Mail to become the country’s most-read daily print paper, with an audience of 10.4mln a month, according to the National Readership Survey, theFT reports.
- Charlotte Hogg is facing calls to resign as deputy Governor of the Bank of England after she failed to notify its ruling body that her brother is director of group strategy at Barclays - which she monitors closely in her new job, reports the Telegraph.
- Philip Hammond received a boost ahead of his first Budget on Wednesday as a top think-tank raised its forecast for UK growth this year by more than any other major economy, the Telegraph reports.
- Astrazeneca’s boss’s pay jumped by almost 70% to £13.4mln last year as his share awards were triggered under a scheme that is set to be scrapped amid shareholder concerns. Pascal Soriot’s total pay rose from about £8mln in 2015, due to £3.6mln in shares granted as compensation for incentives he forfeited when he joined in 2012, reports the Times.
- Dozens of top bankers have escaped with a secret slap on the wrist after breaking rules laid down by the City watchdog, the Mail reports. The Financial Conduct Authority has given 39 senior City executives a quiet ticking-off in the past five years rather than publicly investigating them.
- E.ON customers will pay an extra £97 a year on energy bills. Consumer groups have branded the new charges for about 2.5 million customers as “monstrous” and “crippling”.The company’s 8.8% price rise for customers on a dual-fuel standard tariff from the end of next month is the second highest increase among several announced recently by rivals, including a 9.8% rise by npower, 7.8% by Scottish Power and 1.2% by EDF. – The Guardian.
Around the markets
- Sterling: US$1.2208, up 0.09 cents
- 10-year gilt yield: 1.194%
- Gold: US$1,217.50 an ounce, up US$1.40
- Brent crude: US$55.59 a barrel, down 33 cents