The Santa rally picked up pace on Wednesday as investors shrugged off downbeat UK data ahead of an expected positive US open.
The FTSE 100 Index raced ahead 131.84 points to 6214 while Germany's Dax and France's Cac-40 also rose.
Growth in UK gross domestic product (GDP) was revised down to 0.4% quarter-on-quarter from the previously reported 0.5% and the year-on-year figure was revised to 2.1% from 2.3%.
UK economist at Capital Economics, Ruth Miller, said: "Today’s UK National Accounts suggest the economic recovery has less momentum than previously thought and still looks worryingly unbalanced."
But traders were hoping for festive cheer from the US, where Wall Street is tipped to open higher amid a wave of economic data.
Durable goods orders and core PCE prices were due before the open while new home sales and revised consumer sentiment figures were expected after the bell.
Commodities provided support. Having fallen 69% this year, Glencore (LON:GLEN) gained 5.8% to 90.8p, while Anglo American (LON:AAL), which has dropped 73% this year, rose 7.6%, or 22.6p, to 319.15p.
Away from the large caps, it wasn’t all good news as Game Digital (LON:GMD) found itself on Santa’s naughty list.
The video game retailer warned on profits after disappointing sales in the run-up to Christmas.
Game said it expected adjusted pre-tax earnings before interest, depreciation and amortisation in the 26 weeks to January 23 to be about £30mln.
Spreadex’s Connor Campbell said: “The spectre of Amazon loomed over Game Digital’s profit warning this morning, a warning that could be the first of many in a retail sector that is constantly feeling the pressure from the online giant.”
Shares in the video game expert plummeted 38.8%, or 79.75p, to 126p.
In small-caps, Africa-focused airline fastjet (LON:FJET), has added Kenya to its network after receiving clearance to operate flights between Kenya and Tanzania under an air agreement between the two countries.
Two new routes, Dar es Salaam to Nairobi, and Kilimanjaro to Nairobi go on sale from today, with one way fares from US$80 and US$50 respectively, plus tax.
The company was the biggest riser in the morning session, up 20.6% to 52.75p.
Elsewhere, ITM Power (LON:ITM) has demonstrated its technology’s fast response times, which are fast enough to meet the requirements for it to be eligible for use with power grids.
The group’s power-to-gas systems demonstrated a full system "turn on" response of 40 cycles (800 milliseconds), and a "turn off" in 7 cycles (140 milliseconds). Shares climbed 6.7% to 24p.
Conversely, broker Panmure Gordon (LON:PMR) sounded the earnings alarm as it said the rather choppy stock market of second half of the year had led to a number of major deals being deferred.
As a result it will post a pre-tax loss of £4-4.5mln. Shares lost more than 20%, or 17p, to 66p.
Frontera Resources (LON:FRR) hardened 11.3%, or 0.08p, to 0.74p as the Eastern Europe-focused oil and gas group increased estimated resources at its South Kakheti gas complex in Georgia.
LONDON OPEN
Investors were full of Christmas cheer on Wednesday as markets rallied ahead of the final surge of data released before the holidays.
Oil bounced back, with a barrel of Brent crude up around 0.8% to US$36.43, while West Texas Intermediate rose 0.7% to US$36.41.
Meanwhile, Royal Dutch Shell (LON:RDSB) insisted its £35.6bn tie-up with BG Group (LON:BG.) still made sense despite low oil prices but unveiled further cost cuts.
Shell said the break-even price per barrel for the deal was in the low US$60s rather than the US$65 it had previously mentioned.
Shares in Shell lifted 2.7%, or 41p, to 1,534p while BG gained 3.3% to 960p. Its rival BP (LON:BP) gushed 2.1% to 352p.
However, Connor Campbell at Spreadex said: “The UK index will have to endure its final two obstacles before the Xmas break, its current account and final third quarter GDP figures.”
The FTSE100 rose 1.4% or 84 points to 6,167 with the beleaguered miners at the top of the index.
Having fallen 69% this year, Glencore (LON:GLEN) received some love, gaining 5.9% to 90p, while Anglo American (LON:AAL), which has dropped 73% this year, rose 5%, or 15p, to 311p.
Away from the large caps, it wasn’t all good news as Game Digital (LON:GMD) found itself on Santa’s naughty list.
The video game retailer warned on profits after disappointing sales in the run-up to Christmas.
Game said it expected adjusted pre-tax earnings before interest, depreciation and amortisation in the 26 weeks to January 23 to be about £30mln.
Spreadex’s Campbell said: “The spectre of Amazon loomed over Game Digital’s profit warning this morning, a warning that could be the first of many in a retail sector that is constantly feeling the pressure from the online giant.”
Shares in the video game expert plummeted 35%, or 73p, to 132p.
In the small cap space, Africa-focused airline fastjet (LON:FJET), has added Kenya to its network after receiving clearance to operate flights between Kenya and Tanzania under an air agreement between the two countries.
Two new routes, Dar es Salaam to Nairobi, and Kilimanjaro to Nairobi go on sale from today, with one way fares from US$80 and US$50 respectively, plus tax.
The company was the biggest riser in the morning session, up 23.4% to 54p.
Elsewhere, ITM Power (LON:ITM) has demonstrated its technology’s fast response times, which are fast enough to meet the requirements for it to be eligible for use with power grids.
The group’s power-to-gas systems demonstrated a full system "turn on" response of 40 cycles (800 milliseconds), and a "turn off" in 7 cycles (140 milliseconds). Shares climbed more than 10% to 24.8p.
Conversely, broker Panmure Gordon (LON:PMR) sounded the earnings alarm as it said the rather choppy stock market of second half of the year had led to a number of major deals being deferred.
As a result it will post a pre-tax loss of £4-4.5mln. Shares lost around 16.8%, or 14p, to 69p.
MARKET PREVIEW
The handful of traders and investors still at their desks are likely to see early gains for London’s blue chips after markets in the US and Asia made good gains.
Financial spread bet firms see FTSE100 adding up to fifty points when trading gets underway, a similar gain to Tuesday when Footsie closed up 48 at 6,083.
Volumes are expected to be thin with some many people having departed already for the Christmas break.
In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 166 to 17,417 led by off-road vehicle giant Caterpillar.
A revision of US economic growth to 2% was not enough to affect the mood, while a modest uptick in the oil was enough to put some support underneath oil stocks.
Asia markets were mixed, with strong gains in Hong Kong, flat in Shanghai and moderate loses in Tokyo.
UK company news will be very sketchy with very little scheduled for the day.