MARKET REPORT

THE FTSE 100 bounced back yesterday as fears over Turkey’s currency crisis and slowing growth in China eased.

London’s top flight closed up 58.51 points, or 0.78%, to close at 7,556.38, snapping a five-day losing streak. It came after Wednesday saw £29bn knocked off the value of the index. Investors had rushed for safe havens and dumped equities as Turkey descended into economic turmoil, while the China-US trade war on top of a slowdown in the Asian powerhouse also weighed on sentiment.

Fiona Cincotta, market analyst at City Index, said: “The FTSE climbed higher across the session and closed in positive territory for the first time in a week. With Qatar offering financial support to Turkey, China sending a delegation to Washington to work out a trade deal and UK retail sales bounding higher, sentiment improved.” In stocks, B&Q owner

ended the day towards the bottom of the FTSE 100, shedding 13.9p to end on 274.5p. B&Q’s sales bounced back following warmer weather in the UK in the second quarter, but investors fretted due to another poor performance in France.

B&Q’s sales rose 3.6% but Castorama dragged on France, with like-for-like sales dropping by 3.8% in the period.

Shares at 254.9p. in

and were knocked amid fears that Amazon is laying the groundwork for its own insurance comparison website.

MoneySupermarket.com shares closed down 15.5p at 283.7p. GoCompare.com fell as much as 10% at the start of trading but ended flat at 114p.

Sterling, meanwhile, received a much-needed but ultimately short-lived shot in the arm from better-thanexpected retail sales figures.

In July, retail sales jumped by 0.7%, beating expectations for 0.2%, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics.

The pound ended the session about 0.2% up on the dollar at 1.271. Versus the euro, sterling was trading down 0.1% at 1.117.

The British currency has taken a Brexit hammering in August as the UK hurtles towards a no-deal Brexit.

The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were up 40p at 1,056.5, up 120p at 4,062p, up 6.4p at 219.7 and up 36.5 at 1,281.5p.

The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were down 27.6p at 461.3p, down 13.9p to 274.5p, down 11p at 774p and

down 2.9p