5th Mar 2026 12:06
(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London were higher at midday on Thursday, after opening in the red, while the UK's construction sector activity remained in contraction territory for another month.
The seasonally adjusted S&P Global UK construction purchasing managers' index posted 44.5 in February, down from a seven-month high of 46.4 points and remaining below the 50-point mark separating growth from contraction. February's reading was below FXStreet-cited expectations of a rise to 47.9 points.
The FTSE 100 index was up 18.95 points, 0.2%, at 10,586.60. The FTSE 250 was up 95.95 points, 0.4%, at 22,992.62, and the AIM all-share was up 1.58 points, 0.2%, at 796.14.
The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.4% at 1,053.82, the Cboe UK 250 was up 0.6% at 20,257.92, and the Cboe small companies was up 0.4% at 18,083.49.
"A decent showing on Wall Street last night and a solid performance from Asia on Thursday helped to spur part of Europe into a higher gear," AJ Bell's Dan Coatsworth commented.
Rentokil still led the FTSE 100, up 11%. Entain came second, up 6.0%, after reporting strong online revenue growth in 2025.
The Ladbrokes and Coral owner's pretax loss widened to GBP556.8 million in 2025 from GBP357.4 million in 2024, and it took a GBP487.7 million impairment charge as a result of the recently announced tax changes in the UK online business.
But underlying operating profit increased 40% to GBP861.2 million, net gaming revenue rose 3.5% to GBP5.33 billion, and overall revenue rose to GBP5.26 billion.
Looking ahead, Entain said it expects 2026 online net gaming revenue, ex-US, growth of 5% to 7% on a constant currency basis, and remains comfortable with market expectations for 2026 underlying Ebitda.
PageGroup was still the worst FTSE 250 performer, plummeting 22%.
Coats Group led the index, up 9.5%.
The footwear and apparel materials manufacturer reported increased pretax profit and revenue of USD201.6 million and USD1.47 billion, respectively, for 2025. It raised the final dividend to 2.28 US cents from 2.19 cents the year before.
The company also said it expects continued organic growth in 2026, which should be "another strong year of free cash flow generation", despite uncertain market conditions.
In small caps, Bloomsbury was up 19%.
The publisher, as well as announcing the upcoming publication of two novels in the bestselling A Court of Thorns & Roses series, said it expects to report group profit in line with market consensus, which forecasts pretax profit of GBP44.3 million, for the year ended February 28.
Additionally, it expects profit for financial 2027 "to be materially ahead" of the consensus estimate of GBP44.5 million.
In European equities on Thursday, the CAC 40 in Paris was down 0.6%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt was up 0.3%.
The decline in the eurozone's construction sector decelerated in February, survey results from S&P Global showed.
The Hamburg Commercial Bank construction purchasing managers' total activity index rose to 46.0 points in February from 45.3 in January. S&P noted that lower new order inflows led construction firms in the eurozone to reduce their staffing numbers in February, which reversed the slight uplift seen in January.
Annual retail sales growth in the eurozone was better than anticipated in January, data published by Eurostat showed.
Retail sales climbed 2.0% on-year in January in the eurozone, up from 1.8% in December which was revised up from 1.3%. It beat expectations of 1.7% growth for January.
The pound was quoted at USD1.3360 at midday on Thursday in London, lower compared to USD1.3365 at the equities close on Wednesday. The euro stood at USD1.1607, lower against USD1.1634. Against the yen, the dollar was trading higher at JPY157.33 compared to JPY157.01.
Stocks in New York were called lower. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was called down 0.2%, the S&P 500 index down 0.1%, and the Nasdaq Composite marginally lower.
The yield on the US 10-year Treasury was quoted at 4.12%, widening from 4.07%. The yield on the US 30-year Treasury was quoted at 4.75%, widening from 4.71%.
Brent oil was quoted higher at USD83.35 a barrel at midday in London on Thursday from USD80.75 late Wednesday.
"Brent Crude continued to move higher, nudging above USD83 per barrel and stoking fears that energy bills will go through the roof," Coatsworth said. "Oil is so important to the world's economy and to see the price go up so quickly in just a week could leave investors feeling dazed and confused.
"The Middle East situation is unfolding at a rapid pace, and investors are finding it hard to make a firm call on whether there will be a sustained energy crisis or just a short, sharp shock."
Gold was quoted higher at USD5,160.53 an ounce against USD5,142.25.
Still to come on Thursday's economic calendar are the US weekly jobless and trade balance data releases.
By Emma Curzon, Alliance News reporter
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