Footasylum’s gains enliven quiet markets

Footasylum’s huge share price rise added a kick to an otherwise quiet London market yesterday, as global equities lacked volatility with the US markets closed.

President’s Day meant American equity markets were closed for business, while a lack of domestic newsflow led to an uneventful day in UK trading.

The FTSE 100 was down just 17.21 points, or 0.24%, to 7,219.47 at the close.

European markets were similarly unmoved. The German Dax fell by 0.01% and the French Cac was up 0.3%.

Meanwhile the pound showed small signs of a rebound against the US dollar, climbing 0.21% to 1.292. Versus the euro, sterling was 0.12% higher at 1.143.

Connor Campbell, financial analyst at spreadbetter Spreadex, said: “Reflecting the extent to which recent trading has been driven by the US, an America-free Monday left the European markets with little to do.”

He added that sterling was likely to see more movement today following the latest UK jobs report.

The subdued mood was also felt in oil prices, which despite making gains earlier in the day were flat at the time of writing.

A barrel of Brent crude was trading at an unchanged price of 66.34 US dollars.

The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Reckitt Benckiser up 279p to 6,296p, Micro Focus up 68.5p to 1,748.5p, Next up 134p to 4,858p and Associated British Foods up 52p to 2,318p. The biggest fallers were Hikma Pharmaceuticals down 40.5p to 1,718.5p, IAG Group down 14p to 649.8p, DS Smith down 7p to 346.5p and GVC Holdings down 10.5p to 630p.