London stocks managed to keep their heads above water by the close on Wednesday, although the main boards continued to lack direction through the afternoon, with many traders away from their desks for the half-term holiday.
The FTSE 100 ended the session up 0.39% at 7,108.00, and the FTSE 250 was ahead 0.25% at 22,933.29.
Sterling was in positive territory as well, last trading 0.16% stronger against both the dollar and the euro at $1.4172 and 1.1605, respectively.
“The second day of June has been another broadly positive one for stock markets, although gains on the FTSE 100 have been somewhat muted,” said IG chief market analyst Chris Beauchamp.
“Markets are making steady progress this afternoon, although a lack of macro drivers have left things a little dull.
“However, ‘never short a dull market’ is a key adage for investors and traders, and remains an important principle to remember, especially when the urge to ‘sell in May – or June – and go away’ remains so prevalent.”
Beauchamp noted that, with 10-year breakevens dropping back in recent sessions, it seemed that the boil had come off the inflation story for the time being, helped along by the evolution of the Fed’s language.
“The FTSE 100 continues to flirt with 7,100, but so far a firm close above this level continues to elude the index,” he said.
“As in the US, a lack of big-name earnings data leaves the index somewhat adrift, and once again outshone by the mid-cap 250 that has hit a new record high today.
“But overall indices remain in solid form, and have started June on the right foot after holding their ground in a less-than exciting May.”
Investors were earlier digesting the latest figures from the Bank of England, which showed mortgage approvals for house purchases rose to 86,900 in April from 83,400 in March, coming in above consensus expectations for 81,000.
However, net consumer credit fell by £0.4bn in April, below consensus expectations of a £0.5bn increase.
“Mortgage approvals recovered in April from March’s dip, in response to the lifting of lockdown measures and news that the Stamp Duty Land Tax holiday had been extended,” said Pantheon Macroeconomics.
“Approvals likely will remain at a high level in the next couple of months, given that the new buyer enquiries balance of the RICS Residential Market Survey picked up to +44 in April, from +42 in March, thereby remaining around the 95th percentile of all past readings since 1999,” said economist Samuel Tombs.
“In addition, Google Trends data indicates that visits to one of the three main property websites were 32% above their average for the time of the year in April and 22% above in May.”
Still, Tombs said a shortage of homes on estate agents’ books would ensure that approvals did not approach November’s 103,400 peak.
In equity markets, oil giants BP and Shell gushed higher, by 2.22% and 2.56% respectively, as oil prices continued to gain after OPEC agreed on Tuesday to stick to its policy of increasing production gradually up to July.
Looking at the price of the thick black stuff, Brent crude was last up 1.2% at $71.09 per barrel, and West Texas Intermediate was ahead 1.3% to $68.60.
Burberry was 3.51% firmer after Exane upgraded the shares to ‘outperform’ from ‘neutral’, saying the strategic transformation is not priced in.
On the downside, central and eastern Europe-focused budget carrier Wizz Air closed 0.06% weaker after it reported a 576m net loss for the year as revenue and passenger numbers plunged amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The company also said it would post another loss in 2022 unless travel restrictions were lifted “quickly and permanently”.
That loss compared with a profit of 281m a year ago, the carrier said, while revenue fell 73.2% to 739m as passenger numbers slumped 74.6% to 10 million.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,108.00 0.39%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 22,933.29 0.25%
techMARK (TASX) 4,382.19 0.10%
FTSE 100 – Risers
Burberry Group (BRBY) 2,182.00p 3.51%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 111.98p 3.08%
Royal Dutch Shell ‘B’ (RDSB) 1,340.20p 2.56%
British Land Company (BLND) 523.40p 2.34%
BP (BP.) 321.75p 2.22%
Royal Dutch Shell ‘A’ (RDSA) 1,401.80p 1.98%
Smith (DS) (SMDS) 431.70p 1.93%
Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 2,624.00p 1.87%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 723.20p 1.57%
Bunzl (BNZL) 2,311.00p 1.36%
FTSE 100 – Fallers
Kingfisher (KGF) 353.60p -2.10%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 173.00p -1.84%
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 3,071.00p -1.79%
Weir Group (WEIR) 1,955.50p -1.63%
SSE (SSE) 1,539.50p -1.57%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 1,846.50p -1.52%
B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 561.20p -1.51%
Just Eat Takeaway.Com N.V. (CDI) (JET) 6,289.00p -1.47%
Pearson (PSON) 828.80p -1.47%
Compass Group (CPG) 1,621.00p -1.16%
FTSE 250 – Risers
Helios Towers (HTWS) 178.00p 4.09%
Hammerson (HMSO) 40.95p 4.04%
C&C Group (CDI) (CCR) 248.80p 3.57%
Sanne Group (SNN) 775.00p 3.33%
CLS Holdings (CLI) 259.00p 3.19%
4Imprint Group (FOUR) 3,125.00p 3.15%
Watches of Switzerland Group (WOSG) 823.00p 2.88%
Oxford Instruments (OXIG) 2,170.00p 2.84%
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 2,143.00p 2.78%
Babcock International Group (BAB) 306.90p 2.75%
FTSE 250 – Fallers
Greencore Group (CDI) (GNC) 137.20p -4.26%
Trainline (TRN) 292.40p -3.43%
Capita (CPI) 39.24p -3.04%
Syncona Limited NPV (SYNC) 210.50p -3.00%
Moneysupermarket.com Group (MONY) 270.00p -2.38%
Just Group (JUST) 105.30p -2.05%
Liontrust Asset Management (LIO) 1,516.00p -1.95%
Centrica (CNA) 53.94p -1.86%
Elementis (ELM) 158.90p -1.73%
IntegraFin Holding (IHP) 516.00p -1.71%
