23rd Sep 2026 12:29
(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London were mixed at midday on Wednesday, as sluggish UK private sector growth and weaker oil prices kept a lid on the FTSE 100, while JD Sports fell following its half-year results.
The FTSE 100 index was up 2.20 points, virtually flat, at 10,710.53. The FTSE 250 was down 94.24 points, 0.4%, at 24,432.21, and the AIM all-share was up 0.06 points, marginally higher, at 795.90.
The Cboe UK 100 was down 0.1% at 1,065.18, the Cboe UK 250 was down 0.5% at 21,191.16, and the Cboe small companies was up 0.3% at 18,864.75.
UK private sector growth slowed in September, as subdued domestic economic conditions and geopolitical uncertainty weighed on businesses, while cost pressures intensified.
The S&P Global flash UK purchasing managers' composite output index fell to 51.7 points in September from 52.5 in August. Moving closer to the neutral 50-point mark that separates growth from contraction, the reading indicated a slowdown in the pace of activity.
The flash services PMI business activity index also fell to 51.7 points from 52.5, below the FXStreet-cited consensus of 52.0.
Chris Williamson, chief business economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said: "September is seeing a worrying combination of disappointingly sluggish economic growth and intensifying inflationary pressures, with subdued business confidence and high costs meanwhile continuing to discourage hiring."
Service providers noted subdued domestic economic conditions and ongoing geopolitical uncertainty, although some companies reported a boost in demand for technology services.
S&P Global said: "AI investment and greater defence spending were highlighted as factors supporting manufacturing production, while weak consumer demand was reported as a growth headwind."
Brent oil was quoted at USD99.20 a barrel at midday in London on Wednesday, down slightly from USD99.39 late Tuesday.
The pound was quoted at USD1.3283 at midday Wednesday, lower than USD1.3342 at the London equities close on Tuesday. Against the euro, sterling fell to EUR1.1640 from EUR1.1662 a day prior.
The euro stood at USD1.1412, lower than USD1.1440 late Tuesday. Against the yen, the dollar was quoted at JPY157.82 versus JPY157.38.
In European equities on Wednesday, the CAC 40 in Paris was down 0.2%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt was down 0.5%.
Eurozone private sector growth accelerated to its fastest pace in almost three-and-a-half years in September, according to preliminary survey data from S&P Global.
The flash composite purchasing managers' index rose to 53.1 points in September from 52.0 in August, marking a third consecutive month of growth and the highest reading since April 2023.
The services business activity index climbed to a 10-month high of 53.0 points from 51.6, while the manufacturing output index edged up to 53.4 from 53.3, reaching its highest level in 55 months.
The manufacturing PMI was unchanged at 52.7 points.
S&P's Chris Williamson said the survey was consistent with eurozone gross domestic product growing 0.4% quarter on quarter.
"Accelerating business growth means the flash PMI survey is indicative of GDP rising at a quarterly rate of 0.4%, with order book growth picking up further momentum across both manufacturing and services in September to hint at sustained momentum heading into the fourth quarter," Williamson said.
He added that resilient growth alongside renewed inflation pressures would "likely embolden the ECB to hike interest rates again before the end of the year", putting an October increase "very much on the table".
Back in London, Autotrader Group was among the worst FTSE 100 performers, down 3.6%.
JD Sports Fashion fell 2.9% after backing its lowered outlook amid a "tough" trading backdrop, saying headwinds seen during the first half are likely to persist.
The sports retailer reported pretax profit of GBP241 million for the 26 weeks ended August 1, up 75% from GBP138 million a year earlier.
However, pretax profit before adjusting items fell 20% to GBP282 million from GBP351 million, just ahead of company-compiled consensus of GBP279 million.
Adjusting items fell to GBP41 million from GBP213 million a year earlier, primarily reflecting the movement in the present value of put and call options.
Sales edged down 0.7% to GBP5.90 billion from GBP5.94 billion. Organic sales declined 0.7% at constant currency, while like-for-like sales fell 2.8%.
Gross margin slipped to 46.8% from 47.0%, below market expectations of 47.5%, driven principally by "controlled price investments", predominantly online, to retain engagement and conversion in a highly promotional trading environment.
At the other end of the FTSE 100, Rentokil Initial rose 2.6%, Burberry Group gained 2.5% and Lion Finance Group added 1.3%.
On the FTSE 250, Pollen Street Group jumped 13% after confirming it is in talks regarding a possible takeover, although it said discussions remain at an early stage.
Renishaw rose 2.7% following a rise in annual earnings.
Ceres Power Holdings gained 5.7% after saying it was seeing encouraging commercial momentum across its partner network as it reported a narrowed half-year loss.
The Horsham, England-based clean energy technology developer reported a pretax loss of GBP15.4 million for the six months ended June 30, narrowed from GBP19.0 million a year earlier.
Among smaller caps, BSF Enterprise jumped 18% after securing a key US patent for its Etsyl technology.
Premier African Minerals tumbled 32% as it warned that cash remained tight despite reporting a narrowed interim loss.
Stocks in New York were called mixed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was called marginally lower, the S&P 500 up 0.1% and the Nasdaq Composite marginally lower.
The yield on the US 10-year Treasury was quoted at 4.96%, unchanged from Tuesday. The yield on the US 30-year Treasury was quoted at 5.30%, also unchanged from Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation & Development slightly raised its global economic growth forecast for 2026 to 2.9% from the 2.8% predicted in June.
For the eurozone, the OECD forecast growth of 1.0%, also higher than its previous estimate. Germany, Europe's largest economy, is expected to grow 1.1%, an upgrade of 0.4 percentage points from its previous forecast.
For next year, however, the OECD lowered its global growth forecast to 3.0% and forecast eurozone growth of 1.0%.
In the UK, the economy is set to have grown by 1.1% for this current year, according to the fresh forecasts.
It represents an upgrade from a previous estimate of 0.9% growth from June, amid a boost from "solid" domestic demand in the second quarter of the year.
However, the UK economy is now expected to grow by 1.0% in 2027, lower than the OECD's projection in June of a 1.1% rise.
Gold was quoted at USD4,314.42 an ounce, lower than USD4,328.77 on Tuesday.
Still to come on Wednesday's economic calendar is the flash composite purchasing managers' index for the US.
By Eva Castanedo, Alliance News senior economics reporter
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