London close: Stocks finish firmer ahead of Fed, BoE decisions

London stocks managed a positive finish on Tuesday, as the pound was mixed against its major trading pairs.

The FTSE 100 ended the session up 0.8% at 6,803.61, and the FTSE 250 finished ahead 1.13% at 21,764.49.

Sterling was last 0.01% weaker against the dollar to trade at $1.3899, while it strengthened 0.23% on the euro to €1.1680.

“Stocks are in positive territory as the end of the trading session draws near,” said CMC Markets analyst David Madden.

“A number of European Union countries have suspended the distribution of the AstraZeneca-Oxford coronavirus vaccination due to health concerns.

“The drug in question has been given the support of the World Health Organization as well as the European Medicines Agency.”

Madden noted that equity markets were higher, despite the “toing-and-froing” over the vaccine.

“It would appear the $1.9trn stimulus package from the United States is still underpinning the rally in global stocks.

“In the next couple of days, we will hear from the Federal Reserve and the Bank of England but no changes to policies are expected.

“Monetary policies are tipped to remain very loose for the foreseeable future, so that is assisting equity markets too.”

In equity markets, AstraZeneca rose 3.64% after Jefferies upgraded the shares to ‘buy’ from ‘hold’, saying its impressive revenue and profit trajectory was compelling relative to EU pharmaceutical peers, with improving quality of earnings and cash flow generation set to ease concerns.

Greggs rallied 3.08% after the bakery chain - famous for its sausage rolls - swung to an annual loss in 2020 for the first time in its history as its sales were hit by closures related to the Covid-19 pandemic, but said trading so far this year was better than expected.

It posted a pre-tax loss of £13.7m, having said in January that the loss could be as much as £15m.

Retirement products specialist Just Group advanced 5.21% after it posted an 11% jump in full-year earnings, while C&C managed to bubble 0.51% higher as the premium drinks company sounded an optimistic note on its outlook.

On the downside, NatWest lost 1.46% after the Financial Conduct Authority started criminal proceedings against the bank for money laundering.

The FCA said NatWest allegedly accepted "increasingly large cash deposits" totalling £365m into the accounts of a UK incorporated customer between November 2011 and October 2016, including £264m in cash.

Promotional merchandise marketer 4Imprint tumbled 8.18% as it reported a 93% slump in full-year profit after taking a significant hit from the pandemic.

The shares were also knocked lower by a downgrade to ‘hold’ from ‘add’ at Peel Hunt.

Wizz Air descended 3.72% after US private equity firm Indigo Partners sold just over 7.69m shares in the budget airline in a placing.

Wood Group finished down 5.08%, while Sabre Insurance clawed back earlier losses to finish flat, after both released full-year results.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 6,803.61 0.80%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 21,764.49 1.13%
techMARK (TASX) 4,240.07 1.25%

FTSE 100 - Risers

British Land Company (BLND) 532.00p 4.60%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 122.85p 4.11%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 705.80p 4.02%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 7,232.00p 3.64%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 2,183.00p 3.55%
BT Group (BT.A) 143.35p 3.32%
3i Group (III) 1,210.00p 2.93%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 242.60p 2.93%
Experian (EXPN) 2,501.00p 2.88%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 770.00p 2.86%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Just Eat Takeaway.Com N.V. (CDI) (JET) 7,182.00p -2.15%
Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 1,459.00p -1.84%
Royal Dutch Shell 'A' (RDSA) 1,523.40p -1.74%
CRH (CDI) (CRH) 3,379.00p -1.63%
BP (BP.) 311.25p -1.55%
NATWEST GROUP PLC ORD 100P (NWG) 185.70p -1.46%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,716.50p -1.18%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 2,091.00p -0.99%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 215.60p -0.92%
BAE Systems (BA.) 503.20p -0.79%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Hammerson (HMSO) 41.70p 13.32%
Cineworld Group (CINE) 115.55p 7.99%
Just Group (JUST) 99.90p 5.21%
Serco Group (SRP) 137.40p 5.13%
Capital & Counties Properties (CAPC) 181.60p 4.73%
Avon Rubber (AVON) 3,130.00p 4.50%
Shaftesbury (SHB) 669.00p 4.45%
Sirius Real Estate Ltd. (SRE) 97.00p 4.42%
Softcat (SCT) 1,569.00p 4.11%
Dunelm Group (DNLM) 1,357.00p 3.98%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 98.72p -9.76%
4Imprint Group (FOUR) 2,450.00p -8.18%
Wood Group (John) (WG.) 301.10p -5.08%
Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 5,300.00p -3.72%
Energean (ENOG) 871.80p -3.52%
TI Fluid Systems (TIFS) 283.95p -3.30%
Playtech (PTEC) 414.60p -3.27%
Just Eat Takeaway.Com N.V. (CDI) (JET) 7,182.00p -2.15%
Diversified Gas & Oil (DGOC) 112.60p -2.09%
TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 427.40p -1.99%