MARKET REPORT

sion.barry@walesonline.co.uk SAINSBURY’S shares surged to the top of the the FTSE 100, with the confirmed merger with Asda helping the blue chip index end the day in positive territory.

The FTSE 100 closed up 0.09% or 7.09 points at 7,509.3 points, with J Sainsbury group shares coming out as the top performer after rising 14.5% or 39.2p to 309p.

In currency markets, the pound was mixed, falling 0.3% against the US dollar to 1.373 but rising 0.3% versus the euro to 1.137.

In UK stocks, WPP jumped 99p to 1,247.5p on the back of a smallerthan-expected drop in first-quarter net sales, which comes just weeks after the shock departure of former boss Sir Martin Sorrell.

The advertising giant said like-forlike sales, minus pass-through costs, fell 0.1% over the first three months of the year, while consensus estimates had predicted a drop of 0.9%.

Outsourcer Interserve plunged 13.15p to 93.75p after the group saw full-year losses more than double to £244.4m in 2017.

Aviva rose 4p to 529p, amid news that it would make a £14m “goodwill payment” to shareholders who lost out when it cancelled £450m worth of preference shares, before the insurance giant U-turned on the plans.

The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were J Sainsbury up 39.2p at 309p, WPP up 99p at 1,247.5p, Antofagasta up 18.4p at 972.4p, and Pearson up 11.6p at 833.8p.

The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were Glencore down 18.3p at 350.7p, Micro Focus International down 21p at 1,253p, Coca-Cola HBC down 35p at 2,444p, and Old Mutual down 3.1p at 251.6p.