FTSE 100 closed at new record high
Britain's premier index up over 7% on the year
Old Mutual the top riser
A late flurry of buying prompted FTSE 100, Britain's premier share index, to end 2017 at a new record high, up almost 65 points at 7,687.
The mid-cap FTSE 250 was also at a new peak - up 84 points at 20,726 - having closed yesterday at 20,642 and up over 14% over the year.
FTSE 100, which just had a half day's trading on Friday, has been a good performer over the year, adding around 4% in the last month and over 7% in the last 12 months.
But the index's journey north has been nothing like as strong as stocks across the Pond, which have seen a record-breaking year since President Trump's election.
The benchmark Dow Jones Industrial Index has gained around 25% in the year to date and yesterday reached its 71st record close of 2017, at 24,837.
In the currency markets today, sterling was up 0.17% against the Euro and ahead by 0.64% against the US dollar, but even that didn't constrain Footsie's ascent.
On the corporate front, top gainer on FTSE 100 was investments and pensions firm Old Mutual (LON:OML), which gained 3.02% to 231.70p.
Miners were also on the up as silver giant Fresnillo (LON:FRES) gained 2.81% to 1,429p as commodities rose.The price of an ounce of gold gained 0.91% to US$1,291.
Meanwhile, on the losing side on Footsie, B&Q owner Kingfisher plc (LON:KGF) shed 1.97% to 337.70p.
It came paradoxically as new data showed High Street retailers fared better in the week before Christmas than in the same time in 2016, with like-for-like store sales in the week ending December 24 at 5.3% higher.
Meanwhile, in small caps, mining group Vast Resources (LON:VAST) nudged up 1.33% to 0.53p on the day.
After the London close, the group revealed it will receive £815.75 from a warrant exercise following an open offer completed in 2016. On Friday (December 22), the firm said it would get around £6,254, also due to the exercise of warrants from the same open offer.
On Footsie overall, over the year, house builder Persimmon plc (LON:PSN) was the top riser, adding over 63% (though it fell a tad, 0.04% today ).
The firm, like other big cap developers, has been boosted buy government initiatives to encourage house buying, such as 'Help to Buy'.
Budget airline EasyJet (LON:EZJ) was also a notable gainer, adding around 54% in 2017.
The group bought part of Air Berlin’s operations this year and made a move into the long-haul flight market.
Among the big losers over the year was British gas owner Centrica plc (LON:CNA), which saw shares plunge over 41% on the year.
It struggled after issuing a profit warning in November that triggered its sharpest share price drop in two decades. It ended Friday down 0.51% at 138.30p.
10.30am: FTSE 100 up 22
FTSE 100 was on course for its highest ever close as miners pushed the blue chip index up.
The market closes at 12:30pm as it is last trading day before the New Year and by 10.30am the index was up 22 at 6,435.
A rise in the price of copper boosted all of the miners, with sector leaders BHP Billion PLC(LON:BLT) and Rio Tinto PLC (LON:RIO) both about 0.8% higher at 1,510p and 3,887p respectively.
London’s performance has been good this year with a rise of about 7% at the current level, though this still lags most of the other major overseas indices which have seen impressive returns.
Dow Jones for example hit another all-time high overnight, the 71st this year so far.
Sterling rose to $1.3499 and has gained more than 9% against the dollar in 2017.
For 2018, forecasts for the FTSE 100 range from falls of up to 10% to Citigroup’s bullish 8,200 prediction though most forecasts are more a modest tick upwards.
New record on cards as FTSE 100 open brightly
FTSE 100 headed towards a record high as the 2017 trading year drew to a close.
London opened 10 points higher at 7,633 after another new high for the Dow Jones industrial Average Index overnight while all Asia’s main markets made ground bar Tokyo.
Oil companies were a bright spot as US oil prices rose to their highest since the middle of 2015 following a dip in US output and commercial stocks.
Shell (LON:RDSB) edged up 2p to 2,489p while BP was flat at 519p.
The UK market closes early as is the tradition on the last trading day before the New Year and there was little company news ahead of the long weekend.
Wizzair PLC (LON:WIZZ) was one of the few to announce some thing significant as it confirmed details of US$17bn order for new Airbuses. Shares rose 220 to 3,594p.
Contractor Balfour Beatty (LON:BBY) eased lower as it sold another chunk of the M25 that circles London.
Balfour will receive £62mln for a 7.5% stake in Connect Plus, the business that runs the motorway.
Balfour had already announced the sale of a 12.5% stake in Connect last week and with the additional disposal, the contractor's profit before tax and year end net cash in 2017 will be above forecasts.
"Taking account of both transactions, the expected 2017 Infrastructure Investments profit on disposal is now £85 million.
"The year-end net cash, which was originally forecast to be in line with prior year, is still expected to be around £103 million higher since the proceeds from the sale of the 7.5 percent tranche will not be received until 2018."