Prime minister’s resignation helps give FTSE 100 small nudge upwards

“We

have seen some weaknesses for US markets

The FTSE 100 rose slightly yesterday as the dust settled following Boris Johnson’s resignation announcement – which caused shares to bounce a day earlier.

Traders saw the PM’s impending exit as a sign of financial security but only after the FTSE had its worst performance on Tuesday since March.

The index closed at 7,196.24 yesterday, up by 0.1%, still slightly below Monday’s close.

Oil companies topped the leaderboard as traders bet on traditional energy over greener sources.

In the US, an unexpectedly strong jobs report prompted optimism from investors.

The S&P 500 index and Dow Jones were both trading up 0.2% as European markets closed.

But analysts warn the labour market tightness only adds to inflationary pressures and the chances of rate rises this month.

Joshua Mahony, senior market analyst at online trading platform IG, said: “The latest US jobs report helped alleviate fears that the widely anticipated recession could begin to hit business investment and hiring decisions.

“Nevertheless, we have seen some weakness for US markets as betterthan-expected payrolls, and stable unemployment/ wages strengthen the case for a 75 basis-point hike in three-weeks’ time.”

Elsewhere in Europe, the Dax index was up 1.3% and the CAC 40 closed 0.4% higher. The pound reached 1.2033 against the dollar and fell to 1.1824 against the euro.

In company news, JD Sports saw its shares rise 2.5% after announcing former Morrisons boss Andrew Higginson would take over from Peter Cowgill as chairman.

Shares in housebuilder Vistry rose 2.1% after saying its profits could exceed expectations due to a period of high demand in the first half of the year.

The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Ashtead, up 117p to 3,839p, St James’s Place, up 32.5p to 1,149p, CocaCola HBC, up 48p to 1,848p, JD Sports, up 3p to 125.25p, and Airtel Africa, up 3.4p to 147.8p.

The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were Standard Chartered, down 17.6p to 579.4p, GSK, down 36.6p to 1,754.8p, HSBC, down 9.8p to 525.8p, Taylor Wimpey, down 1.9p to 112.95p, and Hikma, down 20.0p to 1,697p.