19th Mar 2025 12:10
(Alliance News) - London remained in the red at midday on Wednesday, with miners among those keeping a lid on the FTSE 100, while stocks in New York are set for a small recovery after being sold off on Tuesday.
The FTSE 100 index was down 10.91 points, 0.1%, at 8,694.32. The FTSE 250 was down 11.68 points, 0.1%, at 20,086.19, and the AIM All-Share was down 0.70 points, 0.1%, at 693.58.
"The FTSE 100 was lower on Wednesday after selling resumed in the US overnight, with airlines and miners among those taking a step back," says AJ Bell analyst Russ Mould.
easyJet and Wizz Air were 0.8% and 4.3% lower at midday on Wednesday. Glencore fell 1.5%, while Anglo American shed 1.2%.
The Cboe UK 100 was down 0.2% at 868.22, the Cboe UK 250 was down 0.1% at 17,501.94 and the Cboe Small Companies was down 0.1% at 15,665.41.
Investors are keenly-awaiting a US Federal Reserve decision at 1800 GMT.
"Currently, market expectations indicate that the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates unchanged in its meeting scheduled for Wednesday, a decision that will remain a key focus for the markets. Investors expect the Federal Reserve to remain cautious in taking any new steps regarding rate hikes amid ongoing concerns about inflation and economic uncertainty," commented XS.com analyst Rania Gule.
Stocks in New York were called higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was called 0.1% higher, the S&P 500 index 0.3% higher, and the Nasdaq Composite up 0.4%.
In European equities on Wednesday, the CAC 40 in Paris was 0.5% higher, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt was down 0.4%.
The pound was quoted at USD1.2975 at midday on Wednesday in London, down from USD1.2991 at the equities close on Tuesday. The euro stood at USD1.0908, lower against USD1.0931. Against the yen, the dollar was trading higher at JPY149.90 compared to JPY149.55.
Gule added: "If the Federal Reserve signals a preference for maintaining the current interest rate policy, this could put pressure on the US dollar, allowing the euro some room for recovery."
In London, Pri0r1ty Intelligence gained 25% on Wednesday.
The artificial intelligence company focused on professional growth services for SMEs has won a "significant" contract with blood cancer charity Leukaemia Care, worth up to GBP100,000.
Leukaemia Care will also receive a year's subscription to Pri0r1ty's core software-as-a-service offering as part of the deal, which Pri0r1ty believes "will open up significant opportunity for further AI consultancy projects to deliver strong additional revenue to the group."
Trakm8 tumbled 26% as a contract fall-through hurt its 2024 results guidance.
The provider of fleet management software and data to insurers now expects full-year revenue to be just under 10% lower than the year before, as an anticipated Optimisation contract "will not now be forthcoming". It warned of a consequential impact on profit, too.
Leading the FTSE 100, M&G was up 2.9% despite posting a swing to a loss during 2024. It had opened up around 4.2% higher.
"Increased geopolitical uncertainty and market volatility continue to weigh on customer and client sentiment and pose a significant challenge to financial institutions across the globe. At M&G, we are confident that we can navigate this uncertain environment by leveraging the strength of our business model which we believe will remain a source of competitive advantage," CEO Andrea Rossi said.
Softcat led the way among mid-caps, rising 12%. The provider of IT infrastructure products and services said pretax profit in the six months to January 31 rose 12% to GBP76.7 million from GBP68.2 million a year prior. Operating profit improved 10% on-year to GBP73.7 million, a "record" and slightly ahead of board expectations.
Softcat now expects operating profit growth of a low-double-digit percentage for the full-year, its guidance upgraded from high-single-digit growth. It hailed an "encouraging second half pipeline".
Brent oil was down at USD70.45 a barrel at midday in London on Wednesday, from USD70.76 late Tuesday.
"Brent Crude is trading slightly lower amid small steps of progress in talks between Putin and Trump over Ukraine. Although the US president failed to broker a ceasefire, Russia has agreed to stop attacks on energy networks, which has been seen as a positive move. This has led to expectations Russian oil flows could be increased at a nearer point in the future if a further deal is reached. But given that attacks on some energy facilities appear to have resumed, any longer-lasting deal still seems very far off. Concerns about the slowing US economy and the impact of tariffs on global growth are also expected to lower demand for energy which is putting downwards pressure on crude," commented Hargreaves Lansdown analyst Susannah Streeter.
Gold was quoted at USD3,039.41 an ounce, up against USD3,035.29 late on Tuesday.
By Emily Parsons, Alliance News reporter
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