London close: Stocks end up but Travis Perkins tumbles on profit warning
London stocks ended a little higher on Friday, as investors continued to digest this week’s policy announcements from the US Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank.
The FTSE 100 ended up 0.2% at 7,642.72.
Axel Rudolph, senior market analyst at online trading platform IG, said: "Stock indices finished a week of Fed, ECB and BoJ meetings in the green with even the FTSE 100 seeing its first positive week in a month.
"Stocks weren't overly concerned by the apparently more hawkish stance of the Fed and another ECB rate hike as they continued to surge higher into Triple Witching Friday, the day at which stock options, stock index futures and stock index options expire in the US."
Rudolph said that with next week's RBA and BoJ minutes, the BoE’s anticipated thirteenth rate hike to 4.75% and a plethora of Fed officials speaking, "cracks may appear in the bullish picture".
On home shores, data out earlier showed that retail sales strengthened last week as the warm weather helped boost demand for clothing.
According the latest BDO High Street Sales Tracker, total like-for-like sales rose 2.95% in the week ending 11 June, compared to a rise of 7.63% in the same week a year previously. It was the second consecutive week of sales growth, following a fortnight of negative data.
In-store sales rose 5.39%, while non-store sales jumped 6.56%.
Leading the increase was fashion, with like-for-like sales ahead 5.07%. Lifestyle sales also rose, by 1.7%, but homewares declined 2.27%, the eighteenth negative result for the category so far this year.
BDO said that footfall was 4.2% stronger compared to the same week in 2022, with high streets seeing the best growth, up 5.4% year-on-year. Retail parks and shopping centres saw footfall improve by 2.1% and 3.8% respectively.
In equity markets, British Gas owner Centrica was a high riser after Citi reiterated its ‘buy’ rating on the shares, as it argued that the stock’s tepid performance in recent days despite the tailwind from a solid trading statement is a reflection of positioning rather than concerns on fundamentals.
Supermarket giant Tesco nudged down despite saying that first-quarter sales had surged 8.8%, maintaining annual guidance and pointing to "encouraging" early signs that inflation was starting to ease for customers.
ITV edged up as the broadcaster confirmed it is in talks about the possible acquisition of All3Media, the independent production company behind The Traitors. Responding to press speculation, the broadcaster said in a brief statement that it was "actively exploring" a potential deal.
Travis Perkins tumbled after the builders’ merchant warned on profits as higher interest rates and weaker consumer confidence weighed heavily on house building. The company said it had "not seen the anticipated easing of market conditions in the second quarter to date".
Building materials distributor Grafton, Wickes and B&Q owner Kingfisher also lost ground.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,642.72 0.19%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,030.89 -0.04%
techMARK (TASX) 4,588.78 0.57%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Ocado Group (OCDO) 461.90p 7.42%
Centrica (CNA) 118.85p 2.81%
CRH (CDI) (CRH) 4,193.00p 2.62%
British Land Company (BLND) 343.00p 2.48%
Frasers Group (FRAS) 697.00p 1.90%
Flutter Entertainment (CDI) (FLTR) 15,945.00p 1.88%
Entain (ENT) 1,221.00p 1.58%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 2,289.00p 1.51%
Unite Group (UTG) 908.00p 1.45%
National Grid (NG.) 1,049.50p 1.45%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Airtel Africa (AAF) 124.80p -3.55%
Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 821.80p -1.75%
M&G (MNG) 197.25p -1.72%
Glencore (GLEN) 467.00p -1.68%
Admiral Group (ADM) 2,175.00p -1.63%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 5,404.00p -1.49%
Anglo American (AAL) 2,545.00p -1.36%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,549.50p -1.27%
Kingfisher (KGF) 233.30p -1.14%
St James's Place (STJ) 1,125.00p -1.10%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Darktrace (DARK) 347.30p 13.20%
Helios Towers (HTWS) 99.20p 6.67%
Digital 9 Infrastructure NPV (DGI9) 69.70p 5.61%
Moneysupermarket.com Group (MONY) 275.00p 5.12%
Auction Technology Group (ATG) 775.00p 4.59%
Playtech (PTEC) 615.00p 4.33%
Baltic Classifieds Group (BCG) 170.80p 3.64%
Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 2,960.00p 3.10%
W.A.G Payment Solutions (WPS) 93.80p 3.08%
easyJet (EZJ) 507.20p 3.01%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Volution Group (FAN) 376.40p -6.79%
Travis Perkins (TPK) 808.60p -6.71%
Marshalls (MSLH) 262.40p -4.93%
Molten Ventures (GROW) 287.40p -4.20%
JTC (JTC) 745.00p -4.06%
Genuit Group (GEN) 320.50p -3.90%
Hunting (HTG) 202.50p -3.80%
Ashmore Group (ASHM) 216.00p -3.74%
Direct Line Insurance Group (DLG) 153.80p -3.60%
Grafton Group Ut (CDI) (GFTU) 819.70p -3.59%