DAVID MYRDDIN-EVANS
UK equities rose slightly on Monday following Emmanuel Macron’s victory in the French election. The FTSE 100 rose by 0.05% to 7,300.86 by the close, with investors looking forward to inflation data and an interest-rate decision later in the week. Macron’s victory had largely been priced into the market already.
In early trading on Tuesday the index of Britain’s biggest companies was fractionally higher, led by a rebound in mining stocks.
The FTSE 100 was up 1.3% overall last week, its biggest weekly rise in two months.
Pearson led the gainers on Friday, jumping 12.4% after detailing another round of cost cuts, as the FTSE 100 added 0.7%.
Rolls Royce climbed 5% to its highest level in two years, but Barclays lost 2.6% on negative broker comment.
Next plunged 5.1% on Thursday after lowering its profit forecast. Other retailers were also down – Marks & Spencer was off 2.5%, while Primark-owner AB Foods lost 1.2%.
But HSBC’s better-than-expected quarterly results saw the bank’s shares add 2.9%, helping the FTSE 100 to a gain of 0.2%.
Travel stocks were also buoyed by a 4% fall in the oil price, with British Airways-owner IAG gaining 3%, Tui up 2.9%, and EasyJet adding 1.5%.
On Wednesday, J Sainsbury dropped 5.7% after reporting weak numbers for its grocery business. Its poor trading update hit other supermarkets, with Tesco down 3.4% and Wm Morrison off 1.4%.
Separately, miners hit their lowest level for months amid weak metal prices, with Glencore down 3.7% and Anglo American off 3.2%.
But both Compass and InterContinental Hotels climbed to record highs on positive broker comment.
The trading week started well following the Bank Holiday Monday, with the FTSE 100 index up 0.6% last Tuesday and the mid-cap FTSE 250 climbing 1%.
BP was up 1.6% after releasing good first-quarter results.