London stocks were still a touch higher by midday on Wednesday, with all eyes on Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell’s speech at the Jackson Hole symposium.
The FTSE 100 was up 0.2% at 7,141.41.
AJ Bell financial analyst Danni Hewson said: “The FTSE 100 continues to see out a fairly docile week so far, marking time until the start of tomorrow’s Jackson Hole summit of key economic decision makers.
“The travel sector continues to enjoy some strength amid hopes for the easing of restrictions with a dip in the pound also helping to lift the UK’s flagship index.
“Weaker sterling boosts the relative value of the overseas earnings which dominate the FTSE, though the more domestic FTSE 250 was also moving higher too, reaching a new record level early on.”
In equity markets, travel and leisure stocks advanced, with British Airways and Iberia parent IAG, Cineworld and Restaurant Group all up.
Rank Group rallied after the bingo hall and casino operator said UK tax authorities have decided not to appeal against a tribunal ruling over value added tax on slot machines. Rank said the first-tier tribunal had agreed a 60-day extension to allow Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and Rank to agree the exact size of the claim, with the gambling firm still expecting to receive around £80m.
Elsewhere, building materials group Grafton rose after it reported record profits and reinstated its dividend following a strong performance from its Woodies business in Ireland.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,141.41 0.22%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 24,034.29 0.62%
techMARK (TASX) 4,841.03 0.60%
FTSE 100 – Risers
Ocado Group (OCDO) 2,055.00p 3.16%
Weir Group (WEIR) 1,694.00p 2.95%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 456.90p 1.99%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 167.82p 1.87%
Entain (ENT) 1,902.50p 1.66%
Flutter Entertainment (CDI) (FLTR) 14,145.00p 1.43%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 8,651.00p 1.42%
HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 395.90p 1.41%
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 1,018.50p 1.34%
Evraz (EVR) 585.60p 1.31%
FTSE 100 – Fallers
Severn Trent (SVT) 2,800.00p -1.13%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 1,061.00p -1.03%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,457.00p -0.95%
Unilever (ULVR) 4,044.00p -0.94%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 320.60p -0.90%
Fresnillo (FRES) 838.20p -0.85%
National Grid (NG.) 956.90p -0.70%
Rentokil Initial (RTO) 574.20p -0.69%
London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) 8,084.00p -0.66%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 5,377.00p -0.61%
FTSE 250 – Risers
Cineworld Group (CINE) 69.08p 4.35%
Wood Group (John) (WG.) 243.00p 4.25%
Rank Group (RNK) 179.40p 3.94%
Auction Technology Group (ATG) 1,566.00p 3.71%
Grafton Group Ut (CDI) (GFTU) 1,357.00p 3.67%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 176.55p 3.43%
Restaurant Group (RTN) 124.40p 3.32%
Virgin Money UK (VMUK) 209.90p 3.25%
Trainline (TRN) 358.80p 2.81%
Reach (RCH) 404.00p 2.80%
FTSE 250 – Fallers
Capita (CPI) 47.92p -3.76%
Petropavlovsk (POG) 20.30p -2.12%
Sanne Group (SNN) 930.00p -1.38%
Cairn Energy (CNE) 187.90p -1.31%
PureTech Health (PRTC) 333.50p -1.19%
Brewin Dolphin Holdings (BRW) 382.50p -1.16%
Beazley (BEZ) 392.50p -0.91%
Liontrust Asset Management (LIO) 2,305.00p -0.86%
Tyman (TYMN) 403.50p -0.86%
CLS Holdings (CLI) 244.00p -0.81%
