FTSE 100 climbs to a 10-week high as strong UBS results boost bank sector
BRITAIN’S top share index hit a 10-week closing high yesterday, as a buoyant banking sector boosted by strong results from Swiss lender UBS countered weak US consumer confidence data.
The FTSE 100 closed up 14.55 points, or 0.3 per cent, at 5,365.67, its highest closing level since 13 May, having retreated from an intra-day peak of 5,411.45.
“We pulled back from the highs. The consumer confidence figures came in a touch weaker, and that’s weighed on the market this afternoon,” said Manoj Ladwa, senior trader at ETX Capital.
US consumer confidence sank in July to its lowest since February on job market worries, underscoring the slow path to economic recovery.
“If it weren’t for banks we’d be firmly in negative (territory)… UBS’s results have propped up the sector today, and there’s a general good feeling about banks, certainly after the stress tests last week, so we’re seeing that continued knock-on effect,” ETX’s Ladwa said.
Banks were the standout gainers, with Lloyds Banking Group, Royal Bank of Scotland and Barclays grabbing the top three spots on the blue-chip leader board, up between 7.6 and 8.8 per cent.
Investors, still upbeat after the European bank stress tests published late on Friday unearthed no nasty surprises, cheered news that strong equities and currency revenues drove UBS’s second-quarter net profit well above forecasts.
Among individual movers, drugmaker AstraZeneca rose 2 per cent as US Food and Drug Administration documents, released ahead of a 28 July advisory panel, raised hopes for its experimental blood thinner Brilinta. AstraZeneca is due to post second-quarter results tomorrow..