FTSE 100 closes up 28 points to 7,621
Clear Leisure and Vela soar after announcing blockchain ventures
Shoppers spent a record £4.3bn in Boxing Day sales
Miners rally on higher commodity prices
There was no sign of a post-Christmas hangover for the FTSE 100 on Wednesday as the index of blue chip shares hit yet another all-time high, following in the steps of its little brother - the FTSE 250.
The FTSE 100 hit 7,620.7 - a 0.4%, or 28 point, gain for the day - just before the bell rang, slightly ahead of the previous intraday record it set on Friday.
That means that for the 29th year in the past 34, the blue chips have closed up on the first trading day after Christmas.
Copper prices soar
A jump in commodity prices - such as copper which reached a three-and-a-half year high - propelled the big-name mining stocks, with copper and silver miner Fresnillo PLC (LON:FRES) the index’s top performer, up 3% to £13.90.
Blue chip retailers, led by J Sainsbury plc (LON:SBRY) (up 1.2% to 240.8p), also ended the day in positive territory on the back of strong Boxing Day sales data.
Broadcaster Sky PLC (LON:SKY) was the index’s biggest faller - down 1.4% to £10.01, while engine maker Rolls-Royce Holdings PLC (LON:RR.) shed a similar percentage to finish the day at 847.8p.
FTSE 250 also hits new high
Down on the FTSE 250, offices group IWG PLC (LON:IWG) saw its shares soar by 27.6% to 255.5p after it received a takeover offer from Canada’s Onex and Brookfield Asset Management.
That helped push the index 0.8% higher to a new record of 20,640, beating the previous best it set last Friday.
Things are a bit quieter over in the US, with the Dow Jones, Nasdaq and S&P 500 indices all trading slightly higher.
Blockchain hysteria continues to grip investors
Among the small caps, the magic of blockchain was at work again on the share price of a stock – in this case Clear Leisure PLC (LON:CLP).
The shares shot up by two-thirds as the company unveiled two new technology ventures, on of which was a proposed Bitcoin mining centre.
Elsewhere in the technology sector, Vela Technologies PLC (LON:VELA), which invests in private companies that have disruptive technology, soared by 26% to 1.2p after it took a 2.9% stake in BTL Group.
That may seem a small stake for such a dramatic share price increase, so it should be no surprise that BTL is involved in the blockchain game, offering blockchain solutions to businesses across multiple industries, in particular the finance, energy and gaming sectors.
BTL has built prototypes that showcase the capabilities of its Interbit platform, a proprietary blockchain based interbank payment network and settlement and asset trading solution.
Vela paid C$152,949 for its stake.
2.45pm... Footsie holding steady at higher levels after mixed US opening
The FTSE 100 made a bit of progress in the afternoon session, with mining stocks continuing to do most of the heavy lifting.
The Footsie was up 19 at 7,612, despite a mixed opening on Wall Street.
Stateside, the S&P 500 was up almost two points at 2,682 but the Dow Jones 30-share was down 3 at 24,743.
Barclays PLC (LON:BARC) was largely unmoved following its announcement about the implications of the US tax reforms.
The corporate tax overhaul was unveiled by President Donald Trump last week, and will see the rate slashed from 35% to 21% as he looks to attract more investment in the US from the world’s biggest firms; however, the changes also require companies to recalculate deferred tax assets that have accumulated on their balance sheets.
Barclays said it will take a write-down of about £1bn on its annual post-tax profit as a result of the overhaul, which in turn will reduce its CET1 capital ratio - a key measure of its financial strength - by about one-fifth of a percentage point.
Barclays was up 0.4% at 202.85p.
Royal Dutch Shell PLC (LON:RDSB) echoed those sentiments claiming the changes will be “favourable” in the future, although it too added that profits would be dented in the short term.
Shell's shares were up 0.5% at 2,464.5p.
12pm...Miners lead footsie higher
As you’d expect on the first day back after Christmas, the FTSE 100 has been fairly subdued.
At midday, the index of blue chip shares is up 0.2%, or 15.3 points, to 7,608.
The miners are still leading the way, with Rio Tinto PLC (LON:RIO) (up 1.7% to £38.09), Anglo American PLC (LON:AAL) (up 1.7% to £15.26), BHP Billiton plc (LON:BLT) (up 1.6% to £14.87) and Glencore PLC (LON:GLEN) (up 1.6% to 381.3p) on the back of a general rise in commodity and metal prices.
In fact, copper hit a three-and-a-half year high on Christmas as it continues its recent rebound.
Retailers were also still feeling the buzz from a decent Boxing Day performance. News that us Brits parted with more than £4bn yesterday served as a boon for the likes of Tesco PLC (LON:TSCO) (up 1% to 208.8p), J Sainsbury plc (LON:SBRY) (up 1.1% to 240.6p) and Debenhams PLC (LON:DEB) (up 1.1% to 35.4p).
Weighing on the footsie still was engine maker Rolls-Royce Holdings PLC (LON:RR.) which has shed 1.6% to trade at 846p, as well as broadcaster Sky PLC (LON:SKY) which is down 1.5% to £10.
9am...Record Boxing Day for retailers
UK retailers headed higher on Wednesday after the sector enjoyed some much-needed respite in the post-Christmas sales.
Footfall on the high street during the Boxing Day sales was actually down on last year, but online shoppers helped total spend reach a record £4.3bn.
As a result of the new spending record, Tesco PLC (LON:TSCO) (up 1% to 208.9p), Marks and Spencer Group Plc (LON:MKS) (up 0.8% to 315.9p) and J Sainsbury plc (LON:SBRY) (up 1% to 240.3p) all made decent gains alongside several others.
The miners dominated the morning’s top riser leaderboard though. Rio Tinto PLC (LON:RIO) jumped 1.4% to £38 after it confirmed it had completed its £1.5bn buyback programme, while Anglo American PLC (LON:AAL) (up 1.7% to £15.27), BHP Billiton plc (LON:BLT) (up 1.6% to £14.86) and Glencore PLC (LON:GLEN) (up 1.7% to 381.8p) were also in demand thanks to rising commodity prices.
The FTSE 100 could only muster a rise of 0.13%, or 10.1 points, early on Wednesday though to 7,602.8, with the likes of Sky PLC (LON:SKY) (down 1.5% to £10) and Rolls Royce Holdings PLC (LON:RR.) (down 1.4% to 847.4p) both weighing on the index.