Supermarkets help FTSE hit fresh record

Market report Emma Newlands

Strong Christmas sales figures lifted supermarket stocks to the top of the FTSE 100, helping send the index to another record high.

London’s blue-chip index pushed past its last closing record of 7,724.22 – reached on 5 January – ending the day up 34.51 points to 7,731.02.

David Madden, a market analyst at CMC Markets, said: “The London market has been helped along by the supermarkets as Marks & Spencer, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons are in demand on the back of the report from Nielsen, which stated all of the ‘big four’ had a positive Christmas period.”

The news helped boost Sainsbury shares, up 7.4p to 248.4p, Marks & Spencer Group up 7.5p to 318.3p and Morrison Supermarkets up 5.4p to 232.3p.

The pound was trading lower against key peers, down 0.4 per cent versus the US dollar at $1.351 and hovering around the flatline against the euro at €1.133.

In UK stocks, Persimmon was down 33p at 2,715p as a controversial £100 million payout to its chief executive overshadowed an upbeat trading update from the housebuilder.

Just Eat shares dropped 11.4p to 793p as it drew criticism over the introduction of a 50p service fee on all its orders, shortly before a ban on card surcharges comes into effect.

The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 included Anglo American up 50p at 1,677p, Micro Focus International up 56p at 2,201p, and Smurfit Kappa up 62p at 2,488p.

The biggest fallers included United Utilities down 29.8p at 782.2p, Severn Trent down 68p at 2,063p, and Centrica down 3.65p at 141.4p. Shares jumped after it reported first-quarter sales growth just months after warning over profits on the back of a slowing housing market. The embattled infrastructure giant claimed it is unaware of any material developments that would have caused its shares to rise on Monday.