Footsie defies muted mood to post gains

The FTSE 100 put in a strong showing, beating off downwards pressure from a rising pound and defying a more dampened mood on the continent.

The index jumped 1.3 per cent, ending the day at 6,105.54 points, a rise of 79.29 points after being buoyed by a rally late in the day, pushed up as the pound lost some of its gains earlier in the day.

It conspired to send the index to its highest point since 25 August, despite a report in the morning which showed 695,000 jobs fell off UK payrolls since the pandemic began.

The optimism was largely driven by Ocado, whose shares rose to their highest point ever as it said that Marks & Spencer products are proving far more popular than its old partnership with Waitrose.

“T h e l o c k d o w n - f avo u r i t e d e e me d i t s Marks & Spencer switchover ‘successful’, with a 50 per cent surge in third- quar ter sales and a 10 per cent rise in weekly orders,” said Spreadex analyst Connor Campbell.

“B etter positioned for a pandemic than any of its bricks and mortar peers, the stock jumped 8 per cent, effectively returning it to the 2,550p levels it fell from at the start of the month,” Mr Campbell said a little before markets closed.

Just an hour after he spoke, the company had breached 2,600 per share, hitting a daily rise of nearly 11 per cent.

A significant, but non-fatal revolt at FirstGro u p ’ s s h a r e h o l d e r mee t i n g wa s n o t enough to reverse a strong share price showing, as the company ended the day up 3.4 per cent on the news that it would make a “small adjusted operating profit” this financial year.

Barratt Developments shares rose by 0.2 per cent on the day it was revealed that chief executive David Thomas’s pay package dropped by more than two thirds for the last financial year.

Eve Sleep investors would have preferred not to wake up as the value of their shares dropped more than 11 per cent as it reported poor sales even as people turned to home improvements during lockdown.

The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Ocado, up 253p to 2,608p, Smurfit Kappa, up 148p to 3,068p, Flutter Entertainment, up 590p to 12,390p, RSA, up 22p to 492p, and

M&G, up 6.55p to 157.75p.