Lunchtime market roundup: Rightmove up as UK house price rise solid

Stock prices in London were mostly lower on Friday midday ahead of US nonfarm payrolls data, after Eurostat revised down eurozone growth figures for 2025; meanwhile the war in Iran continued, sending the price of Brent oil higher.

The FTSE 100 index was down 55.68 points, 0.5%, at 10,358.26. The FTSE 250 was down 77.66 points, 0.3%, at 22,622.54, and the AIM all-share was down 1.72 points, 0.2%, at 786.64.

The Cboe UK 100 was down 0.6% at 1,030.49, the Cboe UK 250 was down 0.6% at 19,915.76, and the Cboe small companies was up 0.1% at 18,040.95.

Rightmove led the FTSE 100, up 3.2%, after Halifax’s report that UK house prices grew at their ‘strongest’ annual rate in four months in February.

Prices grew 1.3% on an annual basis in February, beating the consensus forecast of a 0.9% increase and accelerating from a 1.1% increase in January, and rose 0.3% on-month, slowing from an 0.8% rise in January, but in line with FXStreet-cited consensus expectations.

‘There’s no doubt that affordability remains stretched, supply is constrained, and regional disparities persist...However, conditions have been gradually improving, with easing interest rates and real wage growth helping to support buyer confidence,’ Halifax Head of Mortgages Amanda Bryden commented.

Alliance Witan was in the red, losing 0.8% after reporting its 2025 results.

The Willis Tower Watson-managed investment trust’s NAV total return for the year was positive 4.7%, down from 13.3% a year prior. It trailed Alliance Witan’s benchmark index, the MSCI all country world index, which returned 13.9% over the year.

However, Alliance Witan said a fourth interim dividend of 7.08p per share was declared in January, bringing the total dividend for 2025 to 28.32p, up 6.1% from 26.70p in 2024.

Looking ahead, Alliance Witan noted that equity markets have been unsettled by the potentially disruptive impact of AI, along with events in the Middle East.

‘In the short-term, our investment manager expects to see a continued period of volatility as markets react to developments. But the longer-term impact will depend on the duration and resolution of the conflict,’ Chair Dean Buckley said.

On the FTSE 250, Avon Technologies rose 4.1%.

The military and law enforcement protective equipment manufacturer’s Avon Protection business has won a new $12.7 million order for its ’MILCF50’ filters from an unnamed ‘Middle Eastern customer’.

Avon said the order underpins its expectations for financial 2026, which are for high-single-digit percentage revenue growth and operating margins reaching the company’s target range of 14% to 16%.

Small-cap Anemoi International rocketed up by 60%, and the stock price has increased fivefold over the last 12 months.

The ID4 holding company, which agreed to a reverse takeover of semiconductor and cellular internet-of-things solutions company Trasna for $150 million in Anemoi shares back in December, noted a partnership announcement from the company it is set to buy.

Trasna, which specialises in eSIM secure provisioning technology, has outlined an expanded collaboration with Cambridge, England-based peer Kigen. The joint venture covers eSIM services and data management, including over-the-air subscriptions and device management.

Anemoi Chair Duncan Soukup called both Trasna and Kigen ‘market leaders in their own right’, adding: ‘This collaboration provides the potential to accelerate their penetration in the high growth global eSIM market.’

In European equities on Friday, the CAC 40 in Paris was down 0.6%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt was down 0.5%.

The eurozone’s economy grew slower than estimated in both 2025 and the fourth quarter, data published by Eurostat showed.

The eurozone’s economy climbed 1.2% on-year in the fourth quarter, down from 1.4% in the third quarter and below an estimate of 1.3% that Eurostat had published in February. Economic growth for 2025 was 1.4%, falling below February’s estimate of 1.5%, but up from 0.9% in 2024.

The EU’s GDP growth was 1.5% in 2025, underperforming against the 1.6% estimate, and up from 1.1% in 2024.

Meanwhile, employment in the eurozone rose by 0.7% on-year in the fourth quarter, better than an estimated 0.6% uptick, and up from 0.6% in the third quarter.

The pound was quoted higher at $1.3325 at midday on Friday in London, compared to $1.3309 at the equities close on Thursday. The euro stood slightly lower at $1.1565, against $1.1574. Against the yen, the dollar was trading higher at JP¥157.93 compared to JP¥157.67.

Stocks in New York were called lower. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was called down 0.3%, the S&P 500 index down 0.4%, and the Nasdaq Composite down 0.5%.

The yield on the US 10-year Treasury was quoted at 4.17%, widening from 4.15%. The yield on the US 30-year Treasury was quoted at 4.77%, widening from 4.76%.

Brent oil was quoted considerably higher, at $88.69 a barrel, at midday in London on Friday, from $84.41 late Thursday.

BP was up 1.4%, while fellow oil major Shell was up 0.8%.

‘Concern about inflation remains elevated with oil prices on course for their largest weekly gains since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022,’ commented AJ Bell Investment Director Russ Mould. ‘The US decision to give Indian refiners a 30-day waiver allowing them to buy Russian oil suggests any solution to the blockage of the Strait of Hormuz is unlikely to happen overnight.

‘The longer that key energy infrastructure and shipping routes in the region are affected, the greater the chance of a significant inflationary impact. This in turn could translate into higher interest rates over the medium term – which is typically bad news for equity markets.’

Gold was quoted higher at $5,085.65 an ounce against $5,075.16 on Thursday.

Miners were lower on Friday, however. Anglo American lost 2.0%, Endeavour 1.5% and Glencore 1.2%.

‘Gold traded close to the USD 5,100 level on Friday, caught between two opposing forces,’ FFA Kings Chief Executive Fadi Al Kurdi said. ‘On one hand, the precious metal continues to benefit from its traditional role as a safe-haven asset amid a tense geopolitical backdrop.

‘On the other hand...the macro environment is creating some headwinds. Elevated energy prices combined with resilient US economic data have pushed markets to reassess expectations for Federal Reserve monetary policy easing. Markets now largely price in only one rate cut this year, a shift that has lifted treasury yields to multi-week highs and weighed on gold.

‘In the near term, attention turns to the US nonfarm payrolls report,’ Al Kurdi continued. ‘Labour market data could significantly influence interest rate expectations and, in turn, gold’s next directional move.’

Still to come on Friday’s economic calendar is the US nonfarm payrolls, average weekly hours, wholesale inventories and retail sales.

Also, Canada has the Ivey purchasing managers’ index release.

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