FTSE clings to gains amid uncertain investor mood

London’s FTSE 100 closed 28.42 points higher, or 0.37%, at 7,634.52.

London’s FTSE 100 outperformed other European stocks amid a mixed session in global markets on Wednesday (PA) (PA Archive)

London’s FTSE 100 outperformed other European stocks amid a mixed session in global markets on Wednesday.

The blue-chip index, which tends to be buoyed by good news in the US, edged up after data showed the US services sector grew in February, albeit at a slower-than-expected pace.

It added to signs of recovery, despite coming after worse-than-expected private payrolls data earlier in the day which painted a more downbeat picture of the nation’s economy.

The jobs data, known as ADP, showed that US private employers hired far fewer workers in March than analysts had thought.

US markets slipped back on the open after the latest ADP payrolls report for March came in below expectations

Michael Hewson, CMC Markets

London’s FTSE 100 was helped up by gains for pharmaceutical giants and utilities. It closed 28.42 points higher, or 0.37%, at 7,634.52.

But sentiment was mixed over on Wall Street, with the S&P 500 down 0.43% and Dow Jones edging up 0.2% in early US trading.

Michael Hewson, chief market analyst for CMC Markets, explained: “US markets slipped back on the open after the latest ADP payrolls report for March came in below expectations at 145,000, indicating that the impact of the banking crisis hit several sectors of the US economy.

“It does appear from this week’s data the economy is slowing, but it has been running hot for a while now so some sort of slowdown is probably due anyway.

“Furthermore, it’s also interesting to note that while vacancies fell below 10 million for the first time since May 2021, the number of vacancies is still very high compared to the pre-pandemic peaks of around 7.5 million.”

Elsewhere in Europe, investors were downcast and the German Dax lost 0.53% while the French Cac was down 0.39%.

The pound also slipped down off the 10-month high achieved on Tuesday, and was down 0.25% to 1.2467 US dollars when European stock markets closed.

In company news, the owner of restaurant chains Franco Manca and The Real Greek enjoyed a big boost in its share price after revealing it has agreed to be bought by Japan’s Toridoll in a £93 million takeover deal.

If approved by shareholders, the deal would see Toridoll, which runs chains including Shoryu and Wok to Walk, take over the fast-growing Fulham Shore.

Investors were buoyed by the impending acquisition and Fulham Shore’s share price jumped by more than 32%.

It was a big day for bolt-ons with gambling giant Entain also announcing it had snapped up sports media firm 365scores in a bid to improve its interactive content.

The £128 million deal will see 365scores form part of Entain’s gambling empire which already includes betting brands Ladbrokes and Coral.

Entain’s share price was flat at close.

The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were United Utilities, up 35p to 1,076.5p, Astrazeneca, up 350p to 11,594p, Haleon, up 9.65p to 340.65p, GSK, up 38.2p to 1,487.2p, and Admiral Group, 54p to 2,132p.

The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were RS Group, down 56p to 839p, CRH, down 221p to 3,800p, Kingfisher, down 10.6p to 246.4p, Auto Trader, down 25p to 594.6p, and Ashtead Group, down 162p to 4,468p.