FTSE 100 defies China and Brexit concerns to end week on a high

LONDON’S blue-chip index defied concerns about a slowdown in the Chinese economy and ongoing Brexit uncertainty to end the week on a high.

The FTSE 100 closed up 0.77pc for the week and up 0.32pc for the day yesterday, at 7,049.8.

Investors took disappointing GDP data from China in their stride, despite third-quarter growth in the world’s second-largest economy falling short of analyst expectations.

China grew by 6.5pc, its worst performance since the first quarter of 2009 in the throes of the financial crisis. Analysts had pencilled in growth of 6.6pc for the quarter.

Neil Wilson, chief market analyst at Markets.com, noted quarterly growth of 6.5pc was a “nice problem to have”, but trade tensions with the US, higher debt levels and a depreciating currency “remain a concern”.

Leading the FTSE 100 gainers was Clearasil and Air Wick maker

up 243p, or 3.8pc, to £67.14.

Investors flocked to the consumer-products giant after its closely watched US competitor Procter & Gamble posted its best quarterly organic sales growth for five years – up 4pc – and better than expected profits. Rival

was also buoyed by the improved market sentiment for consumerproducts firms, as well as an upgrade from analysts at Bryan Garnier, sending its shares up 124p to £41.10. It was a welcome reprieve for the maker of Domestos and Ben & Jerry’s, which has been dogged by criticism after a U-turn on plans to move its headquarters out of the UK to Amsterdam.

In the FTSE All-share index, precision engineering specialist

was the biggest faller, down 428p, or 10.2pc to £37.64.

The sharp drop came just a day after the Gloucestershire-based firm posted a quarterly trading update, including a 9pc fall in pre-tax profits to £32.6m.

The investor response on Thursday was muted, with shares falling just 2pc, but developments late in the day set the firm up for a sell-off yesterday.

At its AGM, nearly a quarter of investors voted against the re-election of the company’s co-founders, executive chairman David Mcmurtry and deputy chairman John Deer. Analysts at Stifel also downgraded the stock to sell.

The company had sought to reassure the City in its trading update, saying it remained confident in its revenue and profit-growth prospects, despite potential disruption from Brexit and Us-china trade tensions.

Renishaw said after its AGM that it would “continue to engage with shareholders to understand their views” on the rebellion against its co-founders.

Elsewhere fell 25.5p to 386.5p on concerns tech giant ebay could soon grab a big share of the car-buying market after purchasing car search site Motors.co.uk from Cox Automotive for an undisclosed sum.

ebay plans to fold the website into its classified listings site Gumtree. Phil Jones, managing director at Motors.co.uk, said the deal would enable the site to take itself to the “next level”. Other sites in the Motors. co.uk stable include Topgear.com, Parkers.co.uk, Honest John, Autovillage and Raccars.co.uk, which reach a combined 5.4m readers a month.

Despite the setback Auto Trader is still enjoying a good 2018, with shares up more than 9pc over the year to date.