Industrials push FTSE 100 higher; Trainline slumps
Reuters
Published May 20, 2021 08:30
Updated May 20, 2021 17:26
By Shivani Kumaresan and Devik Jain
(Reuters) -Gains in industrial stocks helped London's FTSE 100 bounce back on Thursday from its worst daily performance in a week, while shares of Trainline slumped to the bottom of the mid-cap index as the U.K. reorganised its railway system.
The blue-chip index rose 1%, with Experian jumping 4.7% to the top of the index, a day after its upbeat quarterly revenue forecast.
The wider industrial index added 2.4%.
Banks and healthcare stocks, including HSBC Holdings (LON:HSBA), Prudential (LON:PRU) Plc, AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) Plc and Smith & Nephew (LON:SN), were also among the biggest boosts on the index.
The domestically focussed mid-cap FTSE 250 advanced 0.7%. Publisher Future surged 9.6% to the top of index after Deutsche Bank (DE:DBKGn) raised its price target on the stock.
Globally, stock markets saw a tentative rebound and bitcoin bounced more than 12% after one of its spectacular smashes, though tapering talk from the U.S. Federal Reserve kept bond markets under pressure. [MKTS/GLOB]
"While the markets don't want central banks to start raising interest rates too soon, they're also clearly worried about rising prices running away and creating a situation where policymakers have no choice but to act", said Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.
"The COVID-19 situation is very different in emerging markets and this could be a threat to the commodity-focused firms on the FTSE, given a lot of demand comes from developing countries."
The FTSE 100 has gained 8.3% year-to-date on optimism about economic recovery. But the index has been trading in a tight range recently as higher inflation has ignited fears that central banks might pare back their support sooner.
Among other stocks, Trainline tumbled 23.2% to eye its worst day on record. Britain said it will create a new public railway operator called Great British Railways which will own and maintain rail infrastructure, collect and set fares and contract private companies to run the trains.
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Written By: Reuters
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