Share index ends five-day winning streak going into holiday weekend

“UK markets have been in no mood for celebrations

The opening of US markets weighed on London’s shares yesterday as they ended the week down ahead of the bank holiday weekend.

The FTSE 100 broke a five-day winning streak after losing ground heavily during the afternoon.

The drop wiped out all the gains that the index has slowly built up since last Thursday.

By the end of the day it closed at 7,532.95, a drop of 74.71 points, or 1%.

It followed a similar sell-off stateside, with both the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones trading down around 1% as European markets were shutting for the day.

In Germany things looked better, with the Dax down just 0.3%, while France’s Cac 40 dropped 0.8%.

IG chief market analyst Chris Beauchamp said: “UK markets have been in no mood for celebrations today, running out of steam after last week’s rebound and suggesting that we are in for more losses as June gets under way.

“It looks like investors remain much more cautious about chasing gains in equities, and if anything remain firmly averse to recommitting themselves to stocks as the outlook for growth and inflation continues to worsen.

“Wall Street isn’t in a happy mood either.

“President Biden’s comments on giving Powell room to combat inflation seem to be overwhelming the hope that the Fed might pause its hiking moves towards the end of the summer.”

In company news, Dr Martens was walking on air as its shares catapulted to the top of the FTSE 250.

The business saw its market value soar by nearly a fifth after it raised sales guidance as revenue rose 18% to more than £908 million in the year to the end of March.

Pre-tax profit rose from less than £70m to more than £214m in the year. Shares closed up 19.6%.

Elsewhere, BT’s shares seemed to be unaffected – up 0.7% – by the news that one of its deals is being probed by competition regulators.

The company’s deal to form a joint venture with Eurosport owner Warner Bros Discovery has drawn scrutiny from the Competition and Markets Authority.