A string of downbeat company trading updates sent the FTSE 100 lower in early trading before it climbed back up to the 10-week highs of around 7,450 points that we’ve seen over the last couple of days.
Ofgem announced this morning that energy bills would have risen to an average of £4,279 per household from January without the government funded price cap. Under the Energy Price Guarantee prices are being held at an average of £2,500 a year.
The increase in demand for energy efficiency products has proved to be a boon for B&Q owner Kingfisher, whose third quarter like-for-like sales edged up by 0.2% to £3.3bn after a falling in the first half.
There has been no such change in fortunes for iconic shoemaker Dr Martens. Shares have fallen 18% after a slowdown in sales and lower interim profits was accompanied by a warning that margins will be lower in the second half.
Among the small caps, neuroscience tech group Cambridge Cognition is to expand into China, targeting the world’s second largest clinical trial market through a collaboration with Luca Healthcare.
And in mining, AfriTin said step-out exploration 35km from its flagship Uis mine in Namibia had hinted at significant lithium, tin and tantalum deposits. While Thor Mining has farmed out its Australian tungsten projects Molyhil and Bonya to ASX-listed Investigator Resources, and will now focus on uranium in the US and gold in Australia.