FTSE Pushes Back Towards 7700 Thanks To Commodity Turnaround
Spreadex | Jul 27, 2018 09:01
A comparatively quiet Friday got off to a slow start after the bell, the relief garnered by Wednesday night’s Trump/Juncker summit lasting just one session.
The FTSE, which completely missed out on Thursday’s rally thanks to a miserable set of commodity stocks and a few errant earnings updates, rose 0.3%, pushing the index back towards 7700. The fact its miners are in a better mood is a huge help, as is the positive reaction to statements from BT, Pearson and Reckitt Benckiser.
Though underlying revenue fell 2% at the troubled, and soon to be CEO-less, BT Group (LON:BT), a 1% increase in first quarter earnings to £1.8 billion allowed the stock to climb 3.5%, undoing much of the decline seen in the last few weeks. Pearson (LON:PSON), meanwhile, also rose 3.5%, the former Financial Times owner promising it was on track to return to underlying profit growth in 2018. As for Reckitt Benckiser (LON:RB), the consumer goods company was the day’s real winner, surging nearly 8% after breezing past expectations of a 2.9% increase in Q2 like-for-like sales to post a 4% rise.
Elsewhere the pound avoided the kind of drop that could have greeted news that Michel Barnier had rejected Theresa May’s customs proposal, effectively torpedoing the resignation-prompting Chequers plan. Instead sterling nudged up 0.1% against the dollar, teasing $1.312, while sitting flat against the euro at €1.125.
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