Lunchtime market roundup: Stocks mixed ahead of US jobless data

Stocks in London were mixed at Thursday midday as investors await weekly jobless data from the US and as oil prices pared some gains, with oil majors trading a touch lower.

The FTSE 100 index was down 75.82 points, 0.7%, at 10,410.41. The FTSE 250 was up 40.31 points, 0.2%, at 23,057.95, and the AIM all-share was up 1.10 points, 0.2%, at 759.17.

The Cboe UK 100 was down 0.5% at 1,032.98, the Cboe UK 250 was up 0.3% at 19,790.44, and the Cboe small companies was up 0.2% at 18,389.36.

In European equities on Thursday, the CAC 40 in Paris was up 0.4%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt was up 0.3%.

The Middle East remained firmly in focus after the US carried out a second consecutive night of strikes on Iran, saying it had targeted 90 military sites in response to alleged attacks on commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz.

Iranian state media reported explosions along the country's southern coastline and on Iranian-controlled islands in the Gulf. Tehran said it had retaliated by targeting US military bases in Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain.

Iran's chief negotiator with the US, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, warned that Washington "still hasn't learned that bullying and breaking promises are no longer cost-free". US President Donald Trump, meanwhile, said Iran wanted "to make a deal", although he questioned whether Tehran was "worthy" of renewed negotiations.

Oil prices gave back some of Wednesday's sharp gains as investors assessed the latest developments. Brent crude traded at USD78.22 a barrel at midday on Thursday, down from USD80.00 late Wednesday.

The retreat below the USD80 mark weighed on energy shares, with BP down 1.5% and Shell losing 0.7%.

The pound was quoted at USD1.3407 midday Thursday, compared to USD1.3358 on Wednesday. Against the euro, sterling edged up to EUR1.1724 from EUR1.1722 a day earlier. The euro stood at USD1.1431, up from USD1.1398. Against the yen, the dollar traded at JPY162.41, down from JPY162.68.

AstraZeneca remained the main drag on the FTSE 100, falling 8.8%.

As the index's second-largest constituent, the pharmaceutical firm weighed heavily after its gene-silencing drug Wainua, developed with Ionis Pharmaceuticals, failed in a late-stage trial to prevent heart complications in patients suffering from a rare and potentially fatal cardiac disease.

British American Tobacco fell 2.2%, with its shares trading ex-dividend.

Computacenter topped the FTSE 100, rising 8.2% after raising its outlook as strong demand from hyperscale customers boosted its US business.

On the FTSE 250, Playtech surged 17% after saying first-half trading was "significantly" ahead of market expectations and upgrading its full-year guidance.

Elementis climbed 4.7% after Kepler Cheuvreux initiated coverage with a 'buy' rating and a 205 pence price target.

Bytes Technology Group rose 4.6% after saying it had traded "well" over the past four months.

Among small caps, Capita slumped 15% after warning that operational issues surrounding its Civil Service Pension scheme contract would hit profit.

Oberon AIM VCT lost 9.5% as its shares traded ex-dividend.

RC365 Holding fell 7.7% after raising £750,000 through a placing and securing a USD2.0 million credit facility.

Bango jumped 17% after reporting higher interim earnings.

In UK politics, Labour MPs began submitting nominations for the party's next leader and the country's next prime minister following Keir Starmer's resignation.

Andy Burnham appears on course to become the frontrunner after remaining the only declared candidate when nominations opened. Defence minister Al Carns, widely viewed as the final potential challenger to the former Greater Manchester mayor, ruled himself out of the race on Wednesday.

Burnham confirmed in a social media video that he had formally nominated himself.

"The nomination process has opened this morning, so, glad to see some MPs going in. I am still the only candidate in the race," he said. "We will get the first indication about 7pm tonight of the first number of MPs to sign up. But the thing will go on over the next few days, so it won't be the final word."

Stocks in New York were called mostly higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was called flat, the S&P 500 index up 0.2%, and the Nasdaq Composite up 0.6%.

In corporate news, PepsiCo rose 1.1% to USD144.00 in premarket trading after backing its full-year guidance alongside stronger second-quarter earnings despite lower food pricing.

The US food and beverage company reported attributable net income of USD2.98 billion for the quarter ended June 13, more than doubling from USD1.26 billion a year earlier. Net revenue increased 6.4% to USD24.18 billion from USD22.73 billion, while organic revenue grew 2.4%.

The yield on the US 10-year Treasury was quoted at 4.58%, narrowing from 4.60%. The yield on the US 30-year Treasury eased to 5.08% from 5.09%.

Gold traded at USD4,104.00 an ounce at midday Thursday, up from USD4,075.60 late Wednesday.

Elsewhere, figures showed Ireland's inflation rate eased slightly in June but remained elevated.

Annual consumer price inflation slowed to 3.4% from 3.6% in May, although it has remained above 3% since the outbreak of the Middle East conflict earlier this year.

On a monthly basis, consumer prices rose 0.3% after falling 0.1% in May. Harmonised inflation, used for comparison across the EU, cooled to 3.2% from 3.5%.

Still to come on Thursday's economic calendar, investors will monitor US initial jobless claims, existing home sales and EIA natural gas stocks.

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