London close: Stocks finish higher after Canada rate decision

London stocks were in positive territory at the close on Wednesday, after losses in Barclays and Standard Chartered dented sentiment earlier in the session.

The FTSE 100 ended the session up 0.61% at 7,056.07, and the FTSE 250 was ahead 1.54% at 18,105.89.

Sterling was also above the waterline, last trading up 1.33% on the dollar at $1.1624, and strengthening 0.17% against the euro to €1.1529.

“European markets have enjoyed yet another day of gains, with sentiment receiving a boost from this afternoon’s monetary policy decision in Canada,” said IG senior market analyst Joshua Mahony.

“The Bank of Canada decision to raise rates by 50-basis points does further develop a theme led by the Reserve Bank of Australia, whereby central banks are willing to slow their pace of tightening as we approach their so-called ‘terminal rate’.

“While the RBA previously speculated that the Federal Open Market Committee rate hikes should do the heavy lifting in combating inflation, we are also seeing chatter of a similar slowing of the tightening pace at next week’s Fed meeting.”

Mahony said that for bulls, the prospect of an end to the tightening phase could provide grounds for optimism, but said it was also worthwhile noting that the same peak rates could be reached over a slightly longer timeframe.

“However, investors should be well aware that the stubbornly high level of inflation could well quell this near-term optimism if it results in an extended period of elevated rates.”

On the political front, prime minister Rishi Sunak and chancellor Jeremy Hunt delayed the Autumn Statement to 17 November earlier , along with an Office for Budgetary Responsibility’s forecast.

Sunak was said to have been mulling over the idea of delaying next week's planned fiscal statement as part of an effort to fill a hole of £40bn in Britain's finances, according to the Times.

However, His Majesty's Treasury later confirmed the November date, and said the statement would contain the UK's medium-term fiscal plan to put public spending on "a sustainable footing", get debt falling and "restore stability".

The news came hot on the heels of comments from former prime minister Liz Truss' spokeswoman, who said that her successor would have to decide whether or not to proceed with a fiscal plan scheduled for 31 October.

In economic news from across the pond, America's shortfall on trade in goods with the rest of the world widened unexpectedly last month, amid a drop in exports.

According to preliminary figures from the US Department of Commerce, the so-called visible trade deficit increased at a seasonally-adjusted month-on-month pace of 5.7% to reach -$92.2bn.

Economists had pencilled in a deficit of -$87.8bn, while the prior month's estimate of -$87.3bn was unchanged.

Staying stateside, new home sales in the US fell by only a tad less than expected last month.

The Department of Commerce said new home sales fell at a seasonally-adjusted pace of 10.9% month-on-month in September to reach an annualised pace of 603,000.

Economists were expecting a reading of 580,000.

On London’s equity markets, banks were in focus after results from Barclays and Standard Chartered.

Barclays closed down 0.6% even after it reported a better-than-expected rise in third-quarter profits despite a sharp jump in bad loan charges, as consumers started to feel the impact of the cost-of-living crisis.

Standard Chartered meanwhile tumbled 5.12% even after it posted an estimate-beating 40% increase in third-quarter profit and lifting its annual outlook.

Elsewhere, WPP was under pressure, slipping 0.86% despite the advertising giant earlier lifting its revenue forecast for the full year, and reporting a 10% increase in third-quarter revenue.

Consumer goods conglomerate Reckitt Benckiser Group fell 3.93% after it narrowed its sales target and posted a jump in third-quarter revenues despite "challenging" market conditions.

Passenger transport operator FirstGroup was in the red by 0.73% after saying it expected to receive $85m from EQT’s sale of First Transit.

Software, security and cloud services specialist Bytes Technology Group plunged 13.74% despite reporting a rise in first-half profit and revenues amid growth across all areas of the business.

On the upside, AstraZeneca rallied 2.74% after it said its capivasertib breast cancer drug combined with Faslodex hormone treatment demonstrated a “statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement” in progression-free patient survival during a late-stage trial.

Hochschild Mining climbed 7.64% after the silver and gold miner announced a major discovery at its Pallancata deposit in southern Peru, and said it was on course to meet full-year production after its third quarter turned out to be the strongest quarter so far this year.

Specialty chemicals company Elementis rose 3.76% after it backed its full-year outlook and said trading in the third quarter had been in line.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com. Additional reporting by Michele Maatouk, Frank Prenesti, Iain Gilbert and Alexander Bueso.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,056.07 0.61%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 18,105.89 1.54%
techMARK (TASX) 4,253.51 1.35%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,227.50p 7.06%
Fresnillo (FRES) 744.60p 4.26%
Anglo American (AAL) 2,766.00p 4.04%
Rightmove (RMV) 508.80p 3.96%
Kingfisher (KGF) 221.20p 3.75%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 113.15p 3.62%
Rentokil Initial (RTO) 539.80p 3.45%
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 101.55p 3.31%
Harbour Energy (HBR) 382.00p 2.96%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 10,034.00p 2.88%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Standard Chartered (STAN) 525.80p -5.16%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RKT) 5,722.00p -4.09%
Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 1,904.00p -2.53%
Whitbread (WTB) 2,557.00p -2.48%
Haleon (HLN) 268.30p -1.76%
Unilever (ULVR) 3,871.50p -1.40%
Diageo (DGE) 3,581.50p -1.32%
National Grid (NG.) 928.20p -1.26%
Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 756.80p -1.25%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 42.45p -1.23%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 1,571.00p 11.18%
Liontrust Asset Management (LIO) 868.00p 10.71%
Synthomer (SYNT) 115.50p 9.69%
ASOS (ASC) 639.00p 8.49%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 62.00p 7.64%
RHI Magnesita N.V. (DI) (RHIM) 1,826.00p 6.72%
4Imprint Group (FOUR) 3,645.00p 6.27%
easyJet (EZJ) 335.80p 6.06%
Mitchells & Butlers (MAB) 110.40p 5.95%
Energean (ENOG) 1,397.00p 5.75%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Bytes Technology Group (BYIT) 377.60p -13.79%
TBC Bank Group (TBCG) 1,850.00p -3.04%
Supermarket Income Reit (SUPR) 103.50p -2.82%
ICG Enterprise Trust (ICGT) 1,052.00p -2.77%
Man Group (EMG) 212.90p -2.65%
VinaCapital Vietnam Opportunity Fund Ltd. (VOF) 420.00p -1.52%
Genuit Group (GEN) 270.00p -1.46%
LXI Reit (LXI) 123.00p -1.28%
Tritax Eurobox (GBP) (EBOX) 62.00p -1.27%
BBGI Global Infrastructure S.A. NPV (DI) (BBGI) 161.00p -1.23%