DAVID MYRDDIN-EVANS
UK shares started upbeat on Monday with the FTSE 100 up 0.35% at 7,404, while the FTSE 250 was up 0.58%. The mining sector was a major gainer after positive economic news from China.
On the corporate front, shares in Carillion, which fell by 70% last week after a very disappointing trading statement, rose by nearly 20% after it won HS2 contracts worth £1.4bn.
In early trading on Tuesday the FTSE 100 was slightly higher after inflation came in lower than expected at 2.6% for the year to June.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 was up 0.4% overall last week.
However, on Friday the blue-chip index dipped 0.5% amid share price declines for housebuilders and drug company AstraZeneca. Royal Mail also lost 2.4% on fears of strike action and wage inflation after the Communication Workers’ Union rejected a plan to close the company’s definedbenefit pension scheme.
Thursday saw global shares touch a new high amid optimism for US monetary policy. In the UK, BT was up 4% after regulator Ofcom said it would approve the partial separation of BT’s Openreach business. But AstraZeneca dropped 3.5% on a rumour that chief executive Pascal Soriot would leave to join Teva Pharmaceuticals of Israel.
On Wednesday, the FTSE 100 posted its biggest daily gain since April, climbing 1.2% after Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen said US interest rates “won’t have to rise all that much further” to reach a “neutral” level. Meanwhile, Bank of England deputy governor Ben Broadbent said he was “not ready” to raise UK interest rates.
Burberry was up 3.2% after quarterly sales beat expectations, but software group Micro Focus dived 8.1% after a drop in licence sales.
Last Tuesday, Marks & Spencer lost 4.7% after an unexpected fall in like-for-like food sales in the first quarter.
Pearson also dropped 5.1%, while the FTSE 100 slipped 0.6%. However, HSBC hit a four-year high on a broker upgrade.