London’s FTSE 100 was flat by midday at 7,482.12 points, with housebuilders weighing on the blue chip benchmark as the UK Government announced plans to force them to pay to fix the cladding crisis which has followed the Grenfell tragedy in 2017.
The housing secretary will unveil plans this week for a £4 billion grant scheme to pay for repairs demanded by banks and insurers in the wake of the Grenfell fire.
FTSE 100 constituents Persimmon (PSN), Berkeley (BKG), Barratt Developments (BDEV) and Taylor Wimpey (TW.) all traded lower by Monday lunchtime.
Worries over an imminent US interest rate rise, which could be triggered by a red-hot inflation reading later this week, also put a dampener on sentiment. Friday’s US jobs numbers didn’t help confidence, with the prospect of wage pressures adding to the jitters.
The US consumer price inflation data, on Wednesday, is expected to show headline CPI breaking above 7% year-on-year, approaching a four-decade high, while producer price inflation data the following day is also expected to show a surge higher.
Supermarkets Sainsbury (SBRY) and Tesco (TSCO), online fashion retailers Boohoo (BOO:AIM) and ASOS (ASC:AIM) and consumer favourites like Marks & Spencer (MKS), JD Sports (JD.) and Games Workshop (GAW) are all due to update on Christmas trading this week.
MOVING ON THE MARKET
Derivatives trading platform Plus500 (PLUS) rose 2.3% to £14.70 after it said it expects annual profit to beat market expectations even after slower fourth quarter growth.
Drug developer Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) plans to launch a new outsourced sterile compounding business focused on providing high quality, ready-to-administer injectable medications that are customised to the specific needs of patients in the US. Investors shrugged off the news leaving the shares 1% down at £21.13.
Private hospitals operator Spire Healthcare (SPI) perked up 0.6% to 252p on news it will again provide support to the NHS this winter as Omicron infections run wild across the UK.
The terms are still to be settled but it is anticipated that the deal will operate on similar terms to the contract in place during January to March 2021 which was announced on 21 December 2020.
Avacta (AVCT:AIM) plunged 27% to 84.5p after being forced to pause the sale of its AffiDX antigen test as it does not perform as well against Omicron as previous variants.
In a statement to investors, the company said laboratory analysis indicates that the sensitivity of the test is reduced at lower viral loads when compared with the sensitivity of the test with previous Covid variants.
OTHER RISERS AND FALLERS
Elsewhere on the market, restaurant group Tortilla Mexican Grill (MEX:AIM) rallied 3.8% to 190.5p as it guided for annual profits and revenue to come in ‘materially ahead’ of its expectations.
The company, which listed in October, said its revenue for the year to December had jumped 79% to £48.1 million, up from £26.8 million in 2020 and £35.4 million in 2019.
Shares in Marks Electrical (MRK:AIM) were 1% lower at 118.25p despite news the online televisions, fridge freezers and washing machines retailer had shrugged off supply chain challenges and demanding comparatives to deliver record sales for the all-important Christmas quarter to December 2021.
The fast-growing online retailer managed to cope with a surge in demand for its products by working closely with suppliers in order to maintain inventory levels during the festive period and insisted it remains on track to achieve its 2022 targets.
Podcast company Audioboom (BOOM:AIM) firmed 7.1% to £15.10 as it guided for annual performance ahead of market expectations after revenue more than doubled, led by ad-tech related sales.
