FTSE-100 index posts highest close since August

THE UK’S FTSE-100 index closed at its highest level since August after seeing a boost from banking stocks and more upbeat sentiment in Asian markets.

London’s top index finished the day up 37.98 points, or 0.51 per cent, at 7,512.

The last time the FTSE-100 closed above the 7,500-point mark was on August 22.

Asian-focused businesses HSBC, Prudential and Standard Chartered jumped to the top of the blue-chip index, signalling that investors were more optimistic of the Chinese government loosening its social restrictions and increasing vaccination rates.

This is despite political unrest continuing in China as citizens call for an end to the nation’s Covid rules.

The good mood was not reflected elsewhere in Europe, with the German Dax dropping by 0.19% and the French CAC-40 edging up by just 0.06%.

Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG, said yesterday: “While the market as a whole has been sceptical today about a positive development from the China protests, the same cannot be said of the FTSE-100.

“Solid gains from Asiafocused names HSBC and Standard Chartered show that at least some investors think the government in China will respond by loosening Covid restrictions, while the lower dollar has boosted commodity prices and thus given the raw materials and energy sector a boost.”

In the US, the top markets started the day on the back foot, with the S&P 500 down 0.35% and Dow Jones down 0.28% after European markets closed.

HSBC announced it has agreed to sell its business in Canada to Royal Bank of Canada for C$13.5 billion (£8.4 billion).

The sell-off comes amid pressure from one of HSBC’S stakeholders, Chinese insurance group Ping An, to break off its Asian business.

The move sent HSBC’S share price up by 4.4%.

Budget airline easyjet revealed it had significantly narrowed its losses from the £1.1 billion reported last year, to £178 million in pre-tax losses in the latest financial year.

The company told shareholders that it “does well in tough times”, whereas legacy carriers will struggle in the high-cost environment.

Shares in easyjet were down by 2.6%.

William Hill owner 888 has said it is ramping up its costsaving plans with a new target of £87 million in operating costs in 2023 alone. Shares in 888 edged up by 0.29%.

The biggest risers in the FTSE=100 were Standard Chartered, up 29.2p to 609p, HSBC Holdings, up 21.7p to 510.3p, Prudential, up 36.4p to 964.8p, Rio Tinto, up 200p to 5,563p, and Anglo American, up 116p to 3,289.5p.

The biggest fallers of the day were Halma, down 143p to 2,128p, Sage Group, down 30p to 786p, Croda International, down 192p to 6,712p, Ocado Group, down 16.8p to 617p, and Experian, down 77p to 2,869p.