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FTSE 100: London index muted as Wall Street closes for 4 July
by cityam
LONDON’s FTSE 100 was muted yesterday on a quiet trading day globally due to Wall Street being shut for US Independence Day.
The capital’s premier index edged 0.10 per cent lower to 7,519.73 points, while the domestically-focused mid-cap FTSE 250 index, which is more aligned with the health of the UK economy, added 0.14 per cent to hit 18,533.79 points.
Britain’s index of its largest companies struggled for conviction in opening exchanges.
“The FTSE 100 started Tuesday flat and with the US markets largely closed for Independence Day it could struggle for direction throughout the trading session,” Russ Mould, investment director at broker AJ Bell, said.
London markets have been on a downward spiral since the US banking crises in March shook investor appetite.
The FTSE 100 had breached the 8,000 point mark for the first time ever at the beginning of the year, before losing a large chunk of those gains. So far in 2023, it is up a little over one per cent.
The FTSE 250 is deep in the red. Sainsbury’s said in results it had notched a near 10 per cent increase in like-for-like sales over the last quarter.
Despite that uplift, the grocer’s FTSE 100-listed shares tumbled, down near two per cent.
Food retailers have come under the microscope for supposedly not passing on falls in global commodity prices to customers.
The Competition and Markets Authority has said a lack of competition among retailers that operate petrol forecourts has kept prices higher than they could have otherwise been.
Pound sterling was up sharply against the dollar by 0.3 per cent.
Peel Hunt analysts have rated budget carrier Ryanair as a ‘buy’. The Ireland-based airline landed a record number of flights in June –over 96,000 –and reported a nine per cent increase in passenger volumes from the previous year. More pesky strikes led to the cancellation of over 900 flights but analysts said the “strength of demand” for the budget airline means it is a good buy.
Wizzy by name, wizzy by nature. Peel Hunt analysts have rated Wizz Air a ‘Buy’, after the airline saw “rapid” growth, with passenger numbers up 22.5 per cent year on year. The group was also named the most sustainable low-cost airline for the third year running. Analysts say to keep an eye out, however, as growth is still below expectations.
