London midday: Stocks push higher as investors mull borrowing data, Nvidia results

London stocks had popped into the black by midday on Thursday as investors mulled third-quarter results from US tech giant Nvidia and the latest UK borrowing figures.

The FTSE 100 was up 0.4% at 8,115.95.

David Morrison, senior market analyst at Trade Nation, said the generative AI chipmaker handily beat expectations on both metrics and also announced positive forward guidance.

"But, in contrast to quarterly updates over the past eighteen months or so, this guidance wasn’t strong enough to trigger further buying. Instead, investors have cut their exposure after the company forecast its slowest revenue growth in close to two years. The stock is currently around 4% lower in early trade," he said.

"Given Nvidia’s significant weighting within both the S&P and Nasdaq, it’s no surprise that both have come under downside pressure this morning. And while Nvidia recently replaced Intel as a Dow constituent, the price-weighted nature of this index means that Nvidia’s drop has had a smaller impact."

On home shores, data from the Office for National Statistics showed the government borrowed more than expected in October as spending and debt repayments outstripped tax receipts.

Government borrowing surged to £17.4bn, up £1.6bn year-on-year, in the first figures published since Finance Minister Rachel Reeves’s Budget last month. Economists had been expecting around £12.3bn.

It is also the second highest October borrowing since monthly records started in 1993.

"Despite the cut in the main rates of National Insurance earlier in 2024, total receipts rose on last year. However, with spending on public services, benefits and debt interest costs all up on last year, expenditure rose faster than revenue overall," said Jessica Barnaby, deputy director for public sector finances at the ONS.

In equity markets, Halma was the standout gainer on the FTSE 100 as the safety equipment and hazard detection products group raised its interim dividend by 7% after a record first-half performance which saw sales top the £1bn mark. It also retained its guidance for the full year.

Ithaca Energy rose as it announced a $200m special dividend.

On the downside, JD Sports tumbled as the retailer warned full-year profits would be at the lower end of forecasts after a "volatile" trading environment in October due to bigger discounts, milder weather and consumer caution ahead of the US election.

Frasers Group fell after it wrote an open letter to Boohoo calling for a vote to dismiss co-founder Mahmud Kamani and for him to be replaced by Mike Ashley.

CMC Markets fell sharply despite saying it swung to an interim pre-tax profit of £49.6m from a loss of £2m a year earlier.

Paypoint lost ground even after it reported a 20.6% improvement in first-half underlying EBITDA to £37.5m on the back of continued operational momentum across its divisions.

Vodafone, National Grid, DCC, B&M European Value Retail, Petershill Partners and Great Portland all fell as they traded without entitlement to the dividend.

Auction Technology was in the red after an initiation at ‘underperform’ by Jefferies.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 8,115.95 0.38%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,209.84 -0.17%
techMARK (TASX) 4,612.59 0.25%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Halma (HLMA) 2,687.00p 7.39%
Smurfit Westrock (DI) (SWR) 4,338.00p 3.24%
Beazley (BEZ) 764.00p 2.00%
Centrica (CNA) 122.65p 1.87%
Diploma (DPLM) 4,196.00p 1.75%
Experian (EXPN) 3,694.00p 1.74%
Airtel Africa (AAF) 96.55p 1.69%
Pershing Square Holdings Ltd NPV (PSH) 3,582.00p 1.13%
BP (BP.) 385.80p 1.11%
Relx plc (REL) 3,584.00p 1.10%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 97.18p -13.96%
Vodafone Group (VOD) 69.26p -2.78%
Frasers Group (FRAS) 719.50p -2.37%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 493.40p -1.56%
National Grid (NG.) 968.00p -1.49%
DCC (CDI) (DCC) 5,555.00p -1.16%
British Land Company (BLND) 375.00p -1.11%
Unite Group (UTG) 836.00p -0.89%
Spirax Group (SPX) 6,415.00p -0.77%
Whitbread (WTB) 2,859.00p -0.76%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Ninety One (N91) 164.90p 5.98%
Ithaca Energy (ITH) 104.70p 4.91%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 146.80p 3.38%
Bytes Technology Group (BYIT) 441.60p 2.94%
Grainger (GRI) 228.50p 2.93%
Harworth Group (HWG) 168.50p 2.12%
Endeavour Mining (EDV) 1,604.00p 2.10%
PZ Cussons (PZC) 78.50p 2.08%
Oxford Instruments (OXIG) 1,988.00p 1.95%
Pennon Group (PNN) 585.00p 1.92%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

CMC Markets (CMCX) 291.50p -13.88%
Petershill Partners (PHLL) 236.00p -7.27%
Auction Technology Group (ATG) 417.00p -6.29%
PayPoint (PAY) 791.00p -5.27%
Mitie Group (MTO) 106.60p -3.96%
Urban Logistics Reit (SHED) 105.60p -3.83%
WH Smith (SMWH) 1,232.00p -2.61%
Great Portland Estates (GPE) 288.50p -2.37%
Volution Group (FAN) 550.00p -2.31%
Currys (CURY) 76.05p -2.25%