London markets dip as stronger pound limits gains and Amigo sinks
The FTSE 100 slipped today as a stronger pound weighed on large dollar-earning consumer staples companies.
Wall Street followed suit, sliding after the open despite a strong rebound in tech stocks yesterday.
London’s blue-chip index dipped 0.2 per cent over the day, with delivery firm Just Eat Takeaway leading the way with a 4.4 per cent rise.
Meanwhile, the mid-cap FTSE 250 also fell 0.2 per cent, as lender Amigo Loans saw shares plunge by more than 50 per cent after a High Court judge knocked down plans to cap compensation payments for historic complaints.
Wagamama owner Restaurant Group jumped two per cent after it said sales were recovering well as Brits dined again, while Royal Mail surged 7.2 per cent as the company edged closer to promotion to the FTSE 100 next month.
Market movers
The morning’s biggest winner was industrial software firm Aveva, who rose 4.7 per cent, followed by Compass Group, up by 2.8 per cent.
However, by the end of the day investors had cooled on the stock, leaving it up 2.2 per cent for the session.
Takeaway giant Just Eat closed way out in front, up 4.4 per cent, followed by BA owner IAG, which rose 2.8 per cent.
A raft of mining and commodities giants dragged the index down however, amid concerns that the recent rally in commodity prices may be slowing.
Anglo American, Shell, Antofagasta and Glencore all fell over 2.0 per cent today.
On Wall Street
After yesterday’s rally, Wall Street’s main markets initially seemed like they could keep up the momentum with further gains at the open.
However, after a couple of hours of trading the S&P 500, the Dow Jones, and the Nasdaq were all down around 0.2 per cent.
The slip comes despite the fact investors were reassured by central bank officials insisting that the current monetary policy conditions would continue.
That sent yields on 10-year Treasury bond slipped to a fresh two-week low today.
It was an especially good day for aerospace engineer Boeing, which saw shares rise 7.7 per cent on the news that it had secured 14 new orders for its much-troubled 737 Max jet.
Around the world
Asian shares advanced today, tracking a rally on Wall Street, while the dollar held near a four-month low as inflation concerns faded.
The region’s main equity gauges climbed with MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan up 1.3 per cent at a two-week high.
China’s blue-chip CSI300 jumped 3.2 per cent, while the Shanghai Composite rose 2.4 per cent.
In early European trade, the Euro Stoxx 50 was 0.5 per cent higher, while the German Dax advanced 0.8 per cent.
“Markets were buoyed as data flow didn’t live up to the strong-inflation narrative, and amid repeated guidance from senior central bank figures that the current rise in inflation is temporary,” ANZ analysts wrote.