FTSE’s big companies help drag index up
On currency markets the pound stayed largely flat at 1.248 dollars, but fell slightly to 1.135 euros.
London’s top index continued its recovery from the recent downturn sparked by chaos in the banking sector as it was boosted by some of the biggest companies in town.
The likes of Astrazeneca and Glencore helped boost the FTSE 100 on Wednesday, leading it 39 points higher to finish the day on 7,824.84.
The rise of 0.5% made the blue-chip index one of the better performers in its international peer group.
In Germany, the Dax had gained 0.3% while France’s Cac 40 was up just 0.1%. In New York, both the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones were trading up around 0.2% shortly after European markets had closed.
“The FTSE100 managed to claw its way back to the levels it was trading back on March 9 on the back of today’s data, while the Dax managed to push up to new 15-month highs, briefly pushing above the highs of last week in the process,” said CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson.
“Today’s outperformers have been the big caps of AstraZeneca, Shell and Glencore, with AstraZeneca getting a lift on the back of an upgrade from Morgan Stanley on optimism over its smart chemotherapy strategy.
“Glencore shares have remained choppy as investors assess the merits of its proposed acquisition of Canadian copper miner Teck Resources.”
He added that travel shares, including British Airways owner IAG, had taken a hit after American Airlines issued a profit warning.
On currency markets, the pound stayed largely flat at 1.248 dollars, but fell slightly to 1.135 euros.
In company news, Everyman Media – the firm behind the cinema chain of the same name – said that it had seen a large expansion in movie-going last year.
The company was able to return to an operating profit as a result, making £402,000 from a loss of £2.2 million in the year before.
Cinema admissions rose from two million in 2021 to 3.4 million last year, helped by the Top Gun and Avatar sequels. However shares dipped 4.6% by the end of the day.
Meanwhile, Sainsbury’s announced a major overhaul to its logistics operations. It said that 7,000 workers would be impacted, but that none would lose their jobs.
Shares in the supermarket fell by 0.1%.
The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were DCC, up 179p to 4,875p, Ashtead, up 112p to 4,634p, Glencore, up 11.35p to 483.6p, Barratt Developments, up 9.4p to 467.1p, and Antofagasta, up 29p to 1,580.5p.
The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were IAG, down 6.1p to 144.15p, Flutter Entertainment, down 425.0p to 14,785p, Ocado, down 14.0p to 510p, Fresnillo, down 21.2p to 785.2p, and Endeavour Mining, down 46.0p to 2,122p.