London shares up ahead of slew of economic data
THE FTSE-100 closed in the green as global stocks enjoyed a bullish run on the back of continued optimism in relation to the progress of Covid-19 drugs.
The London markets were calm ahead of a week of economic news, with traders hopeful that it will reveal the very start of a V-shaped recovery in the UK.
London’s top flight closed 80.78 points higher at 6,176.19 at the end of trading yesterday.
Connor Campbell, financial analyst at Spreadex, said: “The UK index was relatively untested, things start to get really busy for the FTSE from Tuesday onwards.”
This morning, the Office for
National Statistics is expected to report a return to monthly gross domestic product growth for May in the first of a series of major economic announcements.
Traders will also be hoping for a steadying of inflation figures tomorrow, while unemployment figures on Thursday will highlight the deepening concerns over the impact of the crisis on jobs.
Mr Campbell added: “If not quite at their initial highs, the markets nevertheless remained strong all session, including, inexplicably, the Dow Jones.”
Across the Atlantic, the Dow nudged higher as Americans continued to put their faith in big pharmaceutical firms, after Gilead heralded progress with its Remnesivir drug, saying it reduces the risk of death in severe Covid-19 cases.
The major European markets were particularly steady as the virus appeared to remain under control in Continental Europe.
The German Dax increased by 1.32%, while the French Cac moved 1.73% higher.
Meanwhile, sterling moved lower after intensified Brexit talks restarted with the EU at the end of last week.
The value of the pound slid 0.06% versus the US dollar at 1.261 and was down 0.61% against the euro at 1.109.
G4S saw shares jump after the business revealed that the first six months of the year had gone a lot better than experts predicted. They closed 11.05p higher at 130.5p.
The company said it expects that adjusted profit before interest, tax and amortisation (PBITA) to be “significantly ahead” of the market consensus.
Analysts were betting that the figure would reach £159 million in the first half of the year, with earnings per share at 4.3p. Bosses said that after an update nearly a month ago, G4S has “continued to deliver a resilient trading performance during June”.
G4S also plans to move forward its first half report to next week.
The price of oil edged higher amid talk that Opec is considering rowing back on its proposed production cuts.
The price of a barrel of Brent crude oil increased by 0.84 to 43.24 US dollars.
The biggest risers on the FTSE-100 were Fresnillo, up 52.8p at 992.8p,
Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust, up 48p at 959p, Johnson Matthey, up 93p at 2,207p, and Avast, up 22.5p at 578.5p.
The biggest fallers of the day were Taylor Wimpey, down 1.3p at 143.7p, Melrose, down 0.9p at 117.35p, Informa, down 3.3p at 437p, and RSA, down 2.3p at 417.6p.