FTSE 100 soars but ends day just 9.82 points up

Dominated by economic news out of the US and London yesterday, the FTSE 100 soared during the day, but gave back many of its gains before the session was finished.

Having traded as high as 7,619.39 earlier in the day, after markets opened on Wall Street, the FTSE fell back, ending more than 100 points lower.

By the end of the day, the index had gained just 9.82 points, or 0.1%, ending at 7,503.27.

The early-morning rally was sparked by the US Federal Reserve’s decision to push up interest rates by 50 basis points, the biggest hike in more than two decades.

Dax, the main German index, ended up dropping 0.5% while the Paris-based Cac fell 0.4%.

The FTSE’s rise earlier in the day had been helped by a falling pound. Sterling had dropped more than 1% against the dollar. But it recovered most of that lost ground and was down just 0.12% shortly after markets closed in Europe, hitting 1.2361.

By the close of play in London, the S&P 500 was trading down 3.5% while the Dow Jones had lost 2.9%.

In company news, Shell said its firstquarter profits reached a record high thanks to the soaring price of oil and gas.

At £7.2 billion, underlying earnings were higher than expected, close to three times better than the same period a year ago.

Shares in the company closed 3.1% up by the end of the day.

Investors were less keen on the retailer Next, which reported a drop in online shopping as pandemic restrictions eased.

Sales grew though, by more than 21% in the 13 weeks to the end of April. Compared to preCovid levels, sales are still 8% below where they had been.

Shares dipped 0.7%.