MARKET REPORT

THE FTSE 100 struggled for direction yesterday, but manged to end in positive territory following two days of losses.

London’s top flight ended the day up 22.81 points, or 0.32%, at 7,049.8.

The index was helped by the likes of consumer goods giants and

riding high off the back of solid results from US peer Proctor & Gamble. Unilever shares closed up 124p at 4,110.5p while Reckitt Benckiser ended 243p higher at 6,714p.

Another high flyer was

itself, which announced it is to pay €438m (£384m) to up its stake in British clearing house LCH, despite uncertainty over the regulation of euro clearing contracts post-Brexit. The group said yesterday it plans to acquire an additional stake of up to 15.1% in the business, bringing its total holding to over 80%. In addition, thirdquarter earnings showed a 5% rise in reported revenue to £464m and an 8% jump in total income to £522m. Investors responded by sending shares 105p higher to 4,391p at the close.

At the other end of the index, airlines suffered after a broker note pointed to headwinds including higher fuel costs and weaker demand weighing on margins. British Airways owner and

were among the casualties, both ending in the red. EasyJet was propping up the FTSE 100 after shares dropped 72p to 1,068p and IAG was down 18.4p at 557p. On the FTSE 250,

finished top of the pile after a consortium of investors upped its takeover approach, valuing the company at around £2.8bn. Peel Group, the Olayan Group and Brookfield Property Group revised an initial proposal of 205p per share up to 215p, following engagement with Intu’s directors. The news sent shares soaring to 200p, a rise of 22.3p, or 12.55%.

Sterling, meanwhile, managed to hold steady despite the Brexit impasse showing no signs of disappearing. The pound was up 0.2% versus the US dollar at 1.304 and down by the same amount against the euro at 1.133.

In Europe, Germany’s DAX was down 0.31% and France’s CAC was down 0.63%.

The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were up 243p at 6,714p, up 47p at up 124p at

up 76.5p 1,157.6p,

4,110.5p and at 2,701p.

The biggest fallers were down 72p at 1,068p, down 29.4p at 523.6p, down 18.8p at 385.1p and down 22.6p at 491.6p.