FTSE 100 closes up around nine points
US shares higher after ADP report
Whitbread top Footsie gainer
FTSE 100 closed in positive territory on Wednesday as Wall Street shares continued higher.
The bluechip benchmark closed up 9.86 points at 7,331, with Whitbread plc (LON:WTB) top riser, up almost 3% to 4,015p each.
In the US, the Dow Jones is up 134 points at the time of writing, to stand at 20,823.
Wall Street has been buoyed by figures out from the ADP on private sector jobs - a precursor to Friday's non-farms event.
On Footsie, the biggest loser was insurer Old Mutual (LON: OML), down 190p. Croda International (LON:CRDA) was also lower - 3.6% to 3,486p after it received a downgrade from Credit Suisse.
3pm....FTSE 100 making good ground
FTSE 100 made good ground as US shares opened strong on a much better than expected US private sector jobs report.
London’s blue chip index was 36 points higher at 7,358, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 170 to 20,858.
Wall Street shares were lifted by payrolls firm ADP reading on new hiring in March.
This showed employers added 263,000 private sector jobs in March, up from a revised number of 245,000 in February.
Non-farm payrolls are due on Friday while minutes from the last Federal Reserve interest rate come out later this evening.
11.00am...FTSE 100 posts solid gains as miners rise again
London was in decent shape today with the index starting strong and still 18 points to the good at 7,340 ahead of the start of US trading.
Very early indications are for the Dow Jones Industrial Average also to add a few points following its rally yesterday.
Miners were again starring in London with Antofagasta PLC (LON:ANTO) and BHP Billion PLC (LON:BLT) the best of the risers as hopes revive of a Trump windfall for copper and iron.
Trade talks get underway today between Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, which should be interesting given the US President’s invective against imports from China during the election campaign.
Bovis PLC rallied 3% to 872.5p as events took an unexpected turn at the housebuilder.
A rejection of the approach from Galliford Try (LON:LGRTY) was predictable but the appointment of former Galliford boss Greg Fitzgerald as Bovis’s less so.
It has led to speculation that the next move might even by a Bovis tilt at its smaller rival as its new boss knows it so well.
Among the small caps, social video broadcaster Brave Bison Group PLC (LON:BBSN) has launched its very own football ‘super-team’, which it reckons will soon rival Premier League teams in terms of popularity.
Rebel FC will be made up of several big-name social media influencers, including YouTube star Callum Airey – A.K.A Calfreezy – who founded the team and has developed it alongside Brave Bison.
Shares rose 10% to 1.24p.
Real Good Food PLC (LON:RGD) has acquired a controlling stake in Welsh healthy snack bar maker Brighter Foods. The Aim-listed food ingredients business will pay up to £9mln for an 84.33% interest in Brighter Foods, which is based in Tywyn, Gwynedd, in mid-Wales. Shares rose 11% to 27.75p.
8.45am ...FTSE 100 up 30 points, but North Korea provides wrong sort of fireworks display
The FTSE 100 started the day on the front foot as it posted a near 30-point gain trade at 7,351.05 early on.
Analysts said there appeared to be some confidence returning to London, although this could be dented by matters out of the UK’s control.
Upcoming are the Fed minutes (later today) and US jobs data on Friday.
Sandwiched between are talks between the US and China starting Thursday, which have already been marked with an impromptu fireworks display by North Korea.
Pyongyang's missile test provided a graphic illustration that Kim Jong Un is prepared ratchet up tensions in the region.
This is before Donald Trump and Chinese Premier Xi Jinping get into talks about trade, which by the US president’s own admission could prove a little tricky.
The miners and oilers were in demand, while the chemicals firm Croda (LON:CRDA) was marked down.
Stepping down a division, results from retirement homes specialist McCarthy & Stone (LON:MCS) led to a 5% markdown of the shares.
Sticking with the building sector, the appointment of a new boss and the rejection of bid approached helped boost shares in Bovis (LON:BVS) 3%.
6.45am...positive start predicted
The FTSE 100 is set to open around 10 points higher after a day of modest progress on Wall Street yesterday.
The benchmark index for the US, the S&P 500, rose just over a point to 2,360 while the Dow Jones added 39 points at 20,689.
US markets had half an eye on the March jobs data due out on Friday, and the release today of the minutes of the most recent meeting of the Federal Reserve's policy makers.
“The US ADP report is due today. According to analyst expectations, the US economy may have added 184,000 new private [sector] jobs in March, versus 298,000 printed a month earlier,” observed Ipek Ozkardeskaya, at spread betting outfit LCG..
Heading towards the close, Asian markets were mixed.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 was up 14 points at 18,825 but in Hong Kong the Hang Seng index was down 44 at 24,217.
The results schedule in London is looking bereft of FTSE 100 companies, leaving the stage clear for mid-caps McCarthy & Stone PLC (LON:MCS) and HSS Hire Group PLC (LON:HSS).
Around the markets
- Sterling: US$1.2444, up 0.04 cents
- 10-year gilt yield: 1.069%
- Gold: US$1,257.30 an ounce, down US$1.10
- Brent crude: US$54.51 a barrel, up 34 cents
Headlines
- Fox News in hot water as it faces financial and legal challenges – Financial Times
- May lobbies for Saudi Aramco listing – The Times
- Jamie Dimon admits ‘not many’ JP Morgan jobs will leave UK in major Brexit U-turn – Daily Telegraph
- Betting shops must learn to live with curbs on ‘dangerous’ high-stakes machines, trade body warns – Daily Telegraph
- Gazprom ‘considering moving operations from London after Brexit – The Independent
- Mercedes and Hyundai pull ads from top Fox News show – The Independent
- Up to 100,000 UK jobs at risk as Merkel and Juncker ally warns on euro clearing – the Guardian
- Bank of England sounds new alarm over consumer credit binge – The Guardian
- £10 billion U.K. nuclear plant - on the size of 170 football pitches - in crisis as French pull the plug mid-build – Daily Mail
- Mercedes-Benz parent Daimler is teaming up with Bosch to bring driverless taxis to the world’s roads – City AM