FTSE edges up as investors bet on gambling giants

The FTSE 100 made modest gains on Tuesday, closing 29.93 points higher, or 0.38%, at 7,909.44.

Investors betting on the future of gambling companies have given London’s top stock exchange a boost (PA) (PA Archive)

Investors betting on the future of gambling companies have given London’s top stock exchange a boost amid a slow start to the week.

The FTSE 100 made modest gains on Tuesday after betting giants Entain and Flutter Entertainment enjoyed a jump in their share price.

Entain, which owns betting shops Ladbrokes and Coral, told investors its customer numbers had hit a new record high as it was boosted by punters betting on the US’s Super Bowl.

Many states in the US have relaxed sports betting restrictions which have helped firms such as Entain to expand.

Investors were buoyed by the cheery update and its share price jumped by more than 8%, helping lift shares in rival gambling firm Flutter Entertainment which owns Paddy Power and Betfair.

Mining company Anglo American also shot towards the top of the blue-chip index after it said it had been granted an environmental permit to expand its copper project in Chile.

The FTSE 100 closed 29.93 points higher, or 0.38%, at 7,909.44.

Danni Hewson, head of financial analysis at AJ Bell, said: “Miners Fresnillo, Anglo American, Endeavour and Glencore were all amongst the day’s big forward movers thanks to stonking growth from China in the first three months of the year as Covid restrictions were lifted and the country splurged with a fresh bout of revenge shopping.

“The pace of growth is unlikely to be sustainable during a global slowdown, which will dampen demand for exports even as factories ramp up production.

“Betting giant Entain was top of the leader board thanks to a surge in punters placing bets. Record customer numbers and relaxed US rules delivered a bump in revenues, with its good fortune rubbing off on competitor Flutter Entertainment.”

The pound held firm against the US dollar during the day, and was up by 0.3% to 1.2418 dollars when European markets closed.

Meanwhile, it was a good session for other European markets with the German Dax up 0.59% and French Cac 40 up 0.47% at close.

Top US stock exchanges started on the backfoot in early Tuesday morning trading with the S&P 500 down 0.15% and Dow Jones down 0.25%.

In other company news, HSBC’s biggest shareholder Ping An renewed its calls for the bank to be split up, ahead of the company’s shareholder meeting next month.

The Chinese investor’s chair, Michael Huang, hit out at the global bank, which it accused of refusing to engage in discussions around the proposal to spin off its Asia business.

HSBC said that this would not be good for shareholders. Shares in the bank closed down 0.5%.

Meanwhile THG, an online retailer, said that its pre-tax loss had risen threefold to £550 million as it absorbed shocks caused by rising prices while trying to not scare off customers.

Shares in the business had soared by around a third on Monday after it revealed it was the target of takeover interest by US private equity company Apollo. But on Tuesday shares fell by 15%.

Elsewhere, easyJet saw its shares rise by 1% after its chief executive said that demand was “stronger than ever” despite ticket prices jumping by nearly a third compared with a year ago.

Around 15.6 million passengers travelled on an easyJet plane between January and March, from 11.6 million in the same months a year earlier.

The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Entain, up 94.5p to 1,400p, Anglo American, up 88.5p to 2,800p, Rolls-Royce, up 4.85p to 155.85p, Fresnillo, up 24.8p to 801p, and Flutter Entertainment, up 395p to 15,480p.

The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were Unite Group, down 20.5p to 928.5p, GSK, down 27.8p to 1,484p, Airtel Africa, down 1.5p to 110.3p, B&M, down 6.6p to 490.4p, and Centrica, down 1.4p to 113.1p.