FTSE 100 live: London rallies at end of week after mixed bag for European and US markets
The FTSE 100 rallied at the end of the week to finish up by half a percent, after a mixed bag in Europe and US markets weighed down sentiment earlier on.
London’s premier bluechip index was at 7,478.19 points by close, finishing 0.49 per cent up after hovering between being under marginally up and down throughout the morning.
The biggest risers over Friday the open were Hiscox, JD Sports and Beazely, before GSK and Entain had a late surge, rising by more than three per cent each.
Meanwhile Melrose was down by 4.36 per cent, a day after the British aerospace supplier CEO and co-founder Simon Peckham announced they will step down in March.
The FTSE 250, which is more aligned with the domestic market, was up by around 0.3 per cent throughout the day, with hipgnosis leading with way. The music manager’s shares soared by more than 14 per cent at the open, and are now hovering near 10 per cent up. It finished back up at 14 per cent.
Meanwhile, Computacenter also surged by about 14 per cent over the day after better-than-expected results.
With a host of important announcements later in the month, including the Bank of England’s much-anticipated interest rate decision on 21 September, markets were still nervous about whether rates would go up again.
There have been mixed signals in recent weeks, with the Bank of England’s Andrew Bailey commenting on Thursday, that it is nearing the end of its monetary tightening cycle, adding that there will be a “quite marked” fall in inflation by the end of the year.
The Bank of England’s chief economist warned at the end of August, that there was “no real room for complacency” in bringing inflation down back to target, suggesting more rate hikes are in the offing.
“Trading on Friday put the FTSE 100 on course to end an up and down week broadly unchanged,” Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell said.
“The market continues to wax and wane with every data release as investors desperately look for signs the end is in sight on interest rate hikes. Overnight there was weakness on Wall Street as the enmity between China and the US continued to impact the tech sector – reports Chinese government workers have been banned from having iPhones taking a bite out of Apple.
“These developments are bitter news for the consumer electronics giant as it gears up for the expected launch of the iPhone 15 on 12 September.
London markets remained subdued after what CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson said “was another mixed bag for European markets” yesterday, with the DAX “closing lower for the fifth day in a row, while still closing well off the lows of the day in another choppy session. The FTSE 100, on the other hand, managed to break a 3-day losing streak, helped by a slightly weaker pound.”
“US markets had a slightly more negative tone to them with the Nasdaq 100 closing lower for the 4th day in a row, with weakness in the Apple share price acting as the main lag on the index, while weekly jobless claims fell to their lowest levels since February.
Hewson added “the overall mood amongst investors does appear to be becoming gloomier, however despite recent price moves we’re still within the price ranges we’ve been in over the past 6 months. With some key central bank meetings looming in the next two weeks we might find the catalyst that breaks us out of these choppy ranges.”