FTSE 100 marks 14th record high close
Blue-chips end just shy of record intraday high
Pound gains 0.4% against US dollar to $1.2212
Pound gains 0.2% against euro to €1.1488
FTSE 100 shares continued their solid rally and even if it was Friday the 13th it was the 14th successive record high close for the blue-chip ticker, built this time by the construction sector.
The FTSE has risen to a higher close each session since Dec. 21. And as on a few previous days, this time it did not close at the intraday record high. Rather just shy of it.
Sterling weakness has been a powerhouse for the London rally in recent weeks. But with the pound strengthening this time in the face of a weaker dollar after US Dec. retail sales disappointed, London owned its own destiny.
As the Nasdaq Composite posted another record high on Friday, London’s broader-based blue-chip index advanced by 0.6% to close at 7,337, but not before chalking an intraday record high of 7,338.49.
Both building materials and housebuilders helped to lift the FTSE index, with Barratt Developments (LON:BDEV) leading the way with a 3.6% advance to 516p and St James's Place (LON:STJ) fourth with 2.5% higher to 1085p.
ITV (LON:ITV) was the second top riser of 2.8% to 208.6p after broker Goldman Sachs named the broadcaster as a possible takeover target.
The mid-cap FTSE 250 rose 0.4% to 18,371. The top riser was building materials company SIG (LON:SIG) which jumped 16.1% to 108.9p after it reported higher sales. The firm said like-for-like group sales increased by 0.3% last year, adding that full-year profits were on track to meet its forecast range of £75mln to £80mln.
The FTSE AIM 100 Index ended up 0.5% at 4192 and the FTSE AIM All-Share Index up 0.4% at 873.
London’s gainers easily outnumbered the losers on the bourse on Friday. A total of 39% of stocks rose and for the 25% who fell, bad luck.
1601 GMT - FTSE 100 homes in on another record close
FTSE100 cruises through 7,300
Heading for 12th record high in a row
Dunelm disappoints but Iofina shines
London's top-share index heading for another record close, its twelfth in a row.
The FTSE 100 index was up 31 points at 7,324, with house builders featuring prominently among the best performers after the recent flurry of trading updates from the sector.
Helal Miah, at The Share Centre, was not wholly convinced investors are right to chase share prices higher.
“Despite the worthy forward looking prospects, good consumer confidence, mortgage availability and ongoing government support, there remains an air of uncertainty around the house builders,” he suggested.
“We would advise investors interested in the sector to keep their wits about them. Although house builders are still acquiring land banks and plots, companies as well as analysts remain vigilant, especially those with more of a London focus such as Barratt Developments,” Miah added.
The market was not listening - at least, not today - as Barratt Developments PLC (LON:BDEV) was the blue-chip index’s top riser, advancing 2.7%.
Among the mid-caps, home wares seller Dunelm Group PLC (LON:DNLM) disappointed with its fourth quarter trading statement.
The shares shed 6% as the group said like-for-like sales edged up 0.2% from the year before, though it was quick to point out that a change in the accounting period end-date meant this time round only six days of the retailer’s winter sale were included, against eight days the year before.
Peel Hunt cut the price target to 800p from 1,000p previously, while Jefferies’ price target, at 650p, was even more pessimistic.
Aim minnow Iofina plc (LON:IOF) hit the comeback trail, with the shares 3% higher to 10.3p as the company reported a return to more normal production levels in December.
The company, which derives iodine from brine water extracted from oil and gas wells in Oklahoma, was affected by an increase in fracking operations by its partners.
11.15am ... Footsie coasting
FTSE 100 was heading towards another record close with a gain of 19 points to 7,311 in steady morning trading.
The index has ended higher for eleven days in a row as the pound’s drop has seen punters rush into shares with large overseas earnings.
Miners have been in the van of the rally and were going well again. Anglo American LON:AAL) added 1.4% to 1,329p while Glencore was 3.6p higher at 316p.
ITV (LON:ITV) got a boost from an upgrade by Goldman Sachs to its ‘Conviction Buy’ list.
The broker highlighted the firm's "content exposure, upside to consensus ad forecasts, M&A potential and low valuation.” Shares rose 4p to 207p.
Housebuilders were also rising. Barratt Development PLC (LON:BDEV) topped the list following its reassuring trading update yesterday.
Among the FTSE250 stocks, Dunelm Group PLC (LON:DNLM) was the biggest loser as Jefferies and Peel Hunt both cut their ratings for the homewares retailer after yesterday’s Christmas trading upate. Dunelm dipped over 4%, or 31.5p to 710.5p.
Building materials SIG Group PLC (LON:SHI) was in demand despite a mixed trading update.
Sales rose by 11%, but that included a 6.9% currency boost and 3.7% from acquisitions. Profit guidance was maintained at £75-80mln and the shares rose 13.5% to 106.5p as overall analysts said it was a better outcome than expected.
7.31am..FTSE 100 to continue record run
The only way is up for FTSE 100 at the moment and the index is expected to rise again when trading gets underway.
Spreadbet firms sees the Footsie adding around 30 points when trading gets underway to add the eleventh record closing high in succession it notched up on Thursday.
Yesterday’s gain was modest at just two points to 7,292, with a subdued day on Wall Street taking some of the shine off near the close.
After the flood of retail updates yesterday, there is much less corporate news today with pub group Mitchells & Butlers PLC (LON:MAB) likely to star after it reported particularly strong trading over Christmas.
US markets had a quiet day with the Donald Trump spy farrago masking the lack of detail on economic measures or the cuts in red tape promised pre-election.
Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 63 points to 19,891, the S&P 500 dipped 5 to 2,270 and Nasdaq shed 16 to 5,547.
Asia markets did better with good gains for the Nikkei and Hang Seng, while Shanghai was flat.
City Headlines
- George Soros 'loses' $1bn after bearish Trump trade (The Telegraph). The billionaire investor George Soros has lost a reported $1bn by betting against the market during the rally that greeted Donald Trump’s election win.
- ‘Brexit tourists’ exploit weak pound to boost UK high street sales (The Guardian). Legions of “Brexit tourists” flocked to the UK to take advantage of the weak pound over Christmas, triggering a huge rise in spending on foreign credit cards.
- Cheap borrowing encourages a boom in first-time buyers (The Times). An estimated 335,750 people bought an apartment or house for the first time last year, up 7 per cent on the previous year, according to Halifax – the highest level since 2007,
- Piano tuner finds gold stashed in old upright (The Times). A piano tuner may be eligible for a windfall of tens of thousands of pounds after discovering a hoard of gold coins inside an instrument while working on it.