UK Equities Rebound, Tracking Wall St. Turnaround
UK and other European indices attracted buyers once again on Wednesday after Tuesday's torrid session
The FTSE 100 index regained the 5,000-point mark, adding 97.4 points to close 2.0% higher at 5,038.1. The FTSE 250 index also rebounded, jumping 203.3 points or 2.2% to settle at 9,392.7.
The switch in direction after Tuesday’s disappointing session was triggered by a swift turnaround in US trade overnight. “We have started to see some minimal recycling of funds out of the US dollar and back into equities, but it seems that by and large the investors who are buying stocks today are the same people who have just sat on the sidelines for the last few weeks,” commented Nick Serff, market analyst at City Index.
“Today’s moves, whilst positive, are not enough to convince that we are out of the woods yet,” he added. “We need to see investors continue to build on these new positions before the market can afford to relax some more.”
With investors moving away from the ‘safety’ of the greenback, copper and precious metal prices benefitted in UK deals from the weaker dollar, fuelling substantial gains in the mining sector. Rio Tinto, Kazakhmys and Lonmin all featured on the FTSE 100 leaderboard, gaining 7.3%, 7.2% and 6.4%, respectively.
The dollar strengthened again in US deals, however, after durable goods orders and homes sales figures both beat expectations.
Other commodity plays, such as oil explorers Cairn Energy and Tullow Oil, also picked up momentum as investors returned to ‘risker’ areas—the two stocks added 6.8% and 4.6% apiece. Even BP, which has seen its stock drop almost 20% since the explosion and subsequent sinking of its well in the Gulf of Mexico, climbed 1.4% ahead.
But it was Burberry that topped the first-tier risers, with a 7.5% climb on the back of full-year results that topped market expectations. The fashion firm had previously guided that it expected to beat top-end analyst forecasts of £200 million-£205 million but today it reported adjusted pretax profit before exceptionals of just under £215 million, thanks to favourable currency effects.
After yesterday’s all-red showing, the vast majority of FTSE 100 components underwent a role reversal on Wednesday but 11 stocks still slipped into the crimson. Next and International Power lost 1.6% each as their shares traded ex-dividend, while National Grid shares were 10.5% lower as the shares went ex-rights following last week’s announcement that it plans to raise £3.2 billion via a fully-underwritten 2-for-5 rights issue.