London markets open week higher as finance and oil firms strengthen
The FTSE 100 moved 0.89%, or 65.28 points, higher to finish at 7,425.83.
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Your support makes all the difference.London stocks made gains with a bright start to the week for the oil and banking firms.
The FTSE 100 bounced back from Friday’s London sell-off, instead taking direction from gains on Wall Street at the end of last week.
London’s top index moved 0.89%, or 65.28 points, higher to finish at 7,425.83.
Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “The FTSE 100 has found a dose of Monday motivation amid hopes that peak interest rates have been reached, despite warnings about America’s huge debt pile and ongoing geo-political fracture.”
Elsewhere in Europe, the other major markets recorded similar performances amid hopes that interest rates could come down next year.
The Dax index was 0.73% higher for the day at the close and the Cac 40 closed up 0.6%.
Across the Atlantic, the US markets took their cues from Europe to open a touch higher, although sentiment was broadly more muted.
Meanwhile, sterling was robust ahead of a key week for economic news, with focus particularly on the latest CPI inflation reading, which is expected to show a significant slowdown.
The pound was up O.36% at 1.226 US dollars and was 0.23% higher at 1.145 euros at market close in London.
In company news, British Land finished higher after the property company said rental growth would be at the top of previous guidance, supporting the firm’s profit outlook.
It came despite the Meadowhall investor recording a pre-tax loss of £49 million in the six months to the end of September as it was hit by higher borrowing costs.
Nevertheless, investors were pleased with the latest update, with shares increasing by 5.8p to 319.5p.
Royal Mail parent firm International Distributions Services (IDS) closed in the red after the postal service operation was fined £5.6 million by regulator Ofcom for a “significant” failure to meet its delivery targets in the past financial year.
Ofcom imposed the penalty following an investigation launched in May after Royal Mail fell short of its performance targets across the 2022 to 2023 financial year for first and second class mail deliveries.
As a result, IDS saw shares slip by 2.6p to 237.4p.
Elsewhere, FTSE 250 firm Kainos was among the day’s weakest performers after the Belfast-based technology firm recorded a fall in orders as it was affected by squeezed healthcare budgets.
The firm however also reported a rise in revenues and profit over the half-year, but downbeat sentiment was driven by lower booking numbers. Shares declined by 277p to 955p.
Meanwhile, the price of a barrel of Brent crude rose by 1.34% to 82.54 US dollars (£67.29) as markets were closing in London.
The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Phoenix Group, up 26.3p to 490.5p, Rolls-Royce, up 8.2p to 240.2p, Melrose Industries, up 15.4p to 530.4p, Smith & Nephew, up 26.5p to 1,015.5p, and British American Tobacco, up 65.5p to 2542.5p.
The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were Entain, down 34p to 891.6p, Experian, down 42p to 2,641p, Endeavour Mining, down 25p to 1,626p, Informa, down 9.8p to 702p, and London Stock Exchange, down 106p to 8,448p.