FTSE 100 rises on miners boost, midcaps hit record high
The FTSE 100 has gained nearly 8% so far this year on optimism Brexit-related underperformance was behind, and speedy vaccine rollouts and policy support from government would fuel a stronger economic re-opening from the pandemic-driven crash. Globally, Asian markets slipped, dragged down by Chinese stocks on fears of monetary policy tightening, while investors awaited a reading on U.S. March retail sales data to gauge the pace of recovery in the world's largest economy.
London's FTSE 100 edged higher on Thursday, boosted by gains in heavyweight mining and consumer staple stocks, while a jump in shares of Travis Perkins on higher quarterly sales growth pushed the midcap index to a record high.
The blue-chip index rose 0.4%, with shares of British gambling group Entain gaining 1.9% after its quarterly online net revenue leapt by 33% even as shop closures dragged its total net gaming revenue. Miners added 1.2%, providing the biggest boost to the index as they tracked higher metal prices.
The domestically focussed mid-cap FTSE 250 index climbed 0.3% to touch 22,426.87 after Britain's biggest building materials seller said its first quarter like-for-like sales (excluding Wickes) grew 17.4%. Its shares rose 2.6%. The index was also supported by gains in travel and leisure and homebuilding stocks.
"Investors are buying these sectors to play the reopening trade and a general recovery in interest for UK stocks after a long period of being in the doldrums," said Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell. The FTSE 100 has gained nearly 8% so far this year on optimism Brexit-related underperformance was behind, and speedy vaccine rollouts and policy support from government would fuel a stronger economic re-opening from the pandemic-driven crash.
Globally, Asian markets slipped, dragged down by Chinese stocks on fears of monetary policy tightening, while investors awaited a reading on U.S. March retail sales data to gauge the pace of recovery in the world's largest economy. "U.S. retail sales for March are the day's highlight. It is unwise to ever bet against the hedonism of the U.S. consumer — and in March, the U.S. consumer was further fuelled by checks from the government," said Paul Donovan, chief economist at UBS Global Wealth Management in a note.
Among other stocks, home improvement retailer Kingfisher advanced 1.9% after Citigroup upgraded it to "neutral" from "sell". Unilever, Reckitt Benckiser Group and Diageo gained between 0.5% and 1.7% after HSBC raised its price targets on the stocks.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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