It took them a while, but it seems that investors decided Tuesday’s Chinese data was worth celebrating after all.
With industrial production and retail sales both beating estimates, the FTSE’s commodity stocks swung into the green. Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) climbed 2.7%, with Glencore (LON:GLEN) jumping 2%, Anglo American (LON:AAL) up 1.9%, and BHP Group (LON:BHPB) rising 1.6%. The gains were less robust in the oil sector, but BP (LON:BP) and Shell (LON:RDSa) still rose 0.4% and 1.1% respectively.
Ocado (LON:OCDO) was another key driver of growth for the FTSE. The lockdown-favourite deemed its Marks & Spencer-switchover ‘successful’, with a 50% surge in third quarter sales and a 10% rise in weekly orders. Better positioned for a pandemic than any of its bricks and mortar peers, the stock jumped 8%, effectively returning it to the £25.50 levels it fell from at the start of the month.
This meant that, despite the pound rising 0.2% against the dollar and 0.4% against the euro, the FTSE was free to add 1%, coming close to 6100 for the first time in 3-weeks.
Investors clearly weren’t interested in the troubling longer-term outlook for the UK jobs market, instead focusing on the short-term beats in the morning’s latest report.
The Dow Jones, if not quite as spritely, still started strong, a 0.7% increase pushing it to a one-week peak just shy of 28200.
The Eurozone indices, however, for once lagged behind their UK peer, with the DAX and CAC rising just 0.2% and 0.3% respectively.
"Disclaimer: Spreadex provides an execution only service and the comments above do not constitute (or should not be construed as constituting) investment advice or recommendations, or a record of our trading prices, or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instrument. Any person placing trades based on their interpretations of the above comments does so entirely at their own risk. Spreadex Ltd is a financial and sports spread betting and sports fixed odds betting firm, which specialises in the personal service and credit area. Founded in 1999, Spreadex is recognised as one of the longest established spread betting firms in the industry with a strong reputation for its high level of customer service and account management.
In relation to spread betting, Spreadex Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Spread betting carries a high level of risk to your capital and can result in losses larger than your initial stake/deposit. It may not be suitable for everyone, so please ensure you fully understand the risks involved."