FTSE finishes month on a high as house prices help banks

Shares in Centrica were among those that rose on Friday, up 1.3%.

Shares in London rose on Friday (Ian West/PA) (PA Wire)

A last-minute minute rally from the FTSE 100 saw it end the month in the green on Friday, higher than where it finished in May, but only slightly.

The top index in London ended the day at 7,531.53 as it soared following better-than expected house price figures from Nationwide.

It was a 59.84 rise on the day, or 0.8%.

On the last day of May the FTSE had ended at around 7,446 but it is still down on the quarter, which started at around 7,632.

“The FTSE 100 has disappointed, as it looks to try and finish the month higher, but well down on the gains it put on in the first quarter,” said CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson.

“This is largely due to weakness in basic resources, energy, and banks this quarter, which have seen it diverge from its European peers, largely due to weakness in the mining sector, which has underperformed due to weak Chinese demand.

“Today’s gainers have been in the banking sector, with Lloyds Banking Group, NatWes and Barclays seeing a strong session after a better-than-expected Nationwide house price survey, and Lloyds Business Barometer survey in June, which rose to a 13-month high.”

European indexes did even better than the FTSE on Friday. Both Germany’s Dax and France’s Cac 40 rose 1.3%.

In New York shares were also in the green. The S&P 500 had gained 0.9% while the Dow Jones was up 0.6% shortly after markets closed in Europe.

Shares in Centrica were among those that rose on Friday, up 1.3%.

The energy giant revealed that it had nearly doubled the capacity at the UK’s largest gas storage site, Rough.

The site will now be filled with around 54 billion cubic feet of gas before next winter, up from the current maximum of 30 billion.

Elsewhere, Merlin Entertainments said that its revenue had risen 60% to £2 billion, going past pre-pandemic levels.

The business, which owns Legoland and Thorpe Park, said that it swung to a £136 million profit, compared to a loss of £94 million the year before.

The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Ocado, up 26.6p to 566.8p, Hargreaves Lansdown, up 33p to 816.6p, Centrica, up 4p to 124.08p, Entain, up 39p to 1,273.75p, and IMI, up 47p to 1,641p.

The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were Airtel Africa, down 2.4p to 107.8p, United Utilities, down 14.6p to 961.6p, Severn Trent, down 27p to 2,566p, IAG, down 1.1p to 161.9p, and Vodafone, down 0.37p to 73.97p.