London stocks had fallen further into the red by midday on Monday, as there was a sense of caution ahead of this week’s Budget.
The FTSE 100 was down 0.5% at 7,647.28.
Prime Minister Jeremy Hunt is due to table his spring budget in parliament at 12:30 GMT on Wednesday, in what is likely to be the last major economic update before the next general election.
Susannah Streeter, Head of Finance and Markets hargreaves lansdowne“Speculation about the breakdown of Jeremy Hunt’s budget is at a fever pitch ahead of Wednesday’s big announcement. What appears clear is that there will be far less fiscal space than the Chancellor had hoped. Why has he downplayed speculation about major tax cuts?
“There have been a number of warnings from the Office for Budget Responsibility and the International Monetary Fund about the fiscal irresponsibility of providing large amounts of sweeteners, given the huge borrowing commitments that governments already have to meet. A big fuss seems unlikely But further cuts to National Insurance are still on the table, but there are likely to be a number of other tweaks by Houdini Hunt, who will be smaller A move to please voters ahead of an election in which they are expected to demonstrate their skill with a series of policies.
“As blue-chip stocks struggle to regain momentum and raids on British companies continue, Jeremy Hunt may try to boost the London market by offering tax breaks to retail investors. There are rumors going around that there is no such thing.
“While an increase in annual ISA allowances is very welcome, the Chancellor should avoid introducing a ‘British-style ISA’, which would add unnecessary complexity and potentially have a negative impact on UK investors. “Even if such a move were to encourage people to invest, investing more in the UK could increase risk for investors, which could result in portfolios being unnecessarily concentrated.” This could have a negative impact, especially given the volatility of the London market compared to other markets.The UK independent ISA could end up not making any additional offers. “Investing in the UK will be encouraged. People who have already maxed out their £20,000 ISA allowance will be able to divide all their existing UK holdings into a UK ISA and use that extra space to invest in a regular ISA.” This will allow us to invest further overseas.”
In the stock market, ocado Following last week’s results, it has been placed under investigation again amid a possible legal battle. marks & spencer.
Hypnosis Shares plunged after the company said the value of its music portfolio had fallen by more than a quarter and it needed to use free cash to pay down debt. As a result, the company has no plans to start paying dividends again “for the foreseeable future.”
On the positive side, Aviva It reversed previous losses and rose slightly after announcing its first foray into the Lloyds insurance market with the £242m acquisition of underwriting syndicate Provitas.
Carrier clarksons The company’s performance improved, with strong growth in Brokerage, Support and Research, leading to revenue growth and a record full-year profit.
blood pressure It was more solid after that jeffries The company upgraded the company’s stock from “hold” to “buy” and raised its price target from 520 pence to 570 pence, predicting that the valuation gap between the stock and its peers will continue to narrow.
market mover
FTSE100 (UK X) 7,647.28 -0.46%
FTSE250(MCX) 19,269.22 -0.44%
Techmark (TASX) 4,370.16 -0.16%
FTSE 100 – Riser
BT Group (BT.A) 106.60p 1.86%
Endeavor Mining (EDV) 1,338.00 pence 1.06%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 378.40p 0.96%
BP (BP.) 475.35p 0.78%
BAE Systems (BA.) 1,259.00 pence 0.72%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 629.80p 0.64%
Fresnillo (FRES) 466.50p 0.63%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 5,754.00 pence 0.56%
GSK (GSK) 1,671.00 pence 0.55%
SEGRO (SGRO) 866.60p 0.44%
FTSE 100 – Falls
Ocado Group (OCDO) 450.60p -5.34%
Entain (ENT) 888.00p -3.14%
Kingfisher (KGF) 227.00p -2.32%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,720.40p -2.29%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,257.50p -2.29%
Mondi (MNDI) 1,381.50p -2.16%
St. James Place (STJ) 500.80p -2.15%
Rentokil Initial (RTO) 430.10p -2.03%
Move right (RMV) 555.20p -1.94%
Croda International (CRDA) 4,804.00p -1.92%
FTSE 250 – Riser
ICG Enterprise Trust (ICGT) 1,274.00 pence 3.58%
TBC Bank Group (TBCG) 3,270.00 pence 3.32%
Clarkson (CKN) 3,775.00 pence 2.72%
Direct Line Insurance Group (DLG) 213.20p 2.65%
Drax Group (DRX) 481.00p 2.34%
OSB Group (OSB) 441.60p 1.80%
Apax Global Alpha Limited (APAX) 156.00p 1.69%
HICL Infrastructure (HICL) 125.60p 1.45%
Spirent Communications (SPT) 110.50p 1.38%
Oxford Instruments (OXIG) 2,245.00 pence 1.35%
FTSE 250 – Falls
Hipgnosis Songs Fund Limited NPV (SONG) 53.80p -14.74%
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 165.80p -6.17%
ITV (ITV) 60.54p -5.35%
Quilter (QLT) 101.30p -4.97%
PZ Cussons (PZC) 97.60p -4.13%
WAG Payment Solution (WPS) 75.20p -3.59%
Dr. Martens (DOCS) 93.30p -3.57%
Close Brothers Group (CBG) 371.40p -2.98%
Darktrace (DARK) 350.40p -2.88%
AO World (AO.) 92.10p -2.75%