London close: Stocks rise on quiet Monday as house prices climb

London stocks managed a positive finish on Monday, almost touching its record high, although the session remained quiet on a global basis as US markets were closed for Martin Luther King day.

The FTSE 100 ended the session up 0.2% at 7,860.07, and the FTSE 250 was ahead 0.65% at 20,082.33.

Sterling was meanwhile in negative territory, last falling 0.23% on the dollar at $1.2199, as it weakened 0.15% against the euro to trade at €1.1274.

“The rally in the FTSE 100 has slowed to a crawl today as newsflow and liquidity both dried up,” said IG chief market analyst Chris Beauchamp.

“The flood of trading updates from UK firms has abated for the day, but will resume later in the week, leaving the FTSE 100 with little to drive trade, while as usual European markets have been left becalmed by the lack of any US session.

“The FTSE 100’s excellent run from the October low has meant that much good news has been priced in, so the run of decent trading updates needs to continue if we are to see a move to a new all-time high.”

In economic news, house prices nudged higher in January according to fresh industry research released earlier, halting two months of falls.

According to the latest Rightmove house price index, prices rose 0.9% month-on-month, swinging from a 2.1% decline in December.

It was the biggest January rise since 2020, while year-on-year, house prices jumped 6.3%.

The average asking price now stood at £362,438, although that was still £8,720 below its October 2022 peak.

Rightmove said the number of prospective buyers contacting agents in January rose 4% when compared to the same period in 2019, and by 55% when compared to the two weeks before Christmas.

However, buyer demand was down by 36% on January last year, indicating that the market was returning to "more normal" levels of activity.

Tim Bannister, director of property science at Rightmove, said house buyers would be reassured by calmer market conditions following the "rapidly changing and at times chaotic economic climate of the final few months of last year".

“We expect that the full effect of affordability constraints and last year’s mortgage rate rises will hold back some segments of the market in the first half of the year, but our leading market indicators may start to identify some green shoots of growth that will go onto strength in the second half of 2023,” he added.

In corporate news, J Sainsbury closed up 1.31% after the grocery giant signed a new deal with Just Eat Takeaway to provide rapid grocery delivery.

Marks and Spencer Group was in the black by 3.2% after it announced the opening of 20 new stores and the creation of 3,400 jobs.

Housebuilders were also in the green after the house price data from Rightmove, with Taylor Wimpey up 2.27% and Barratt Developments ahead 1.8%.

Insurer Prudential also pushed higher, finishing Monday’s session ahead by 2.51%.

“Asia-focused insurer Prudential was among the gainers as shares in China and other markets in the regions, bar Japan, enjoyed gains,” noted Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.

Analysts at Jefferies upgraded investment manager Man Group from 'hold' to 'buy' on Monday, sending the shares 3.76% higher.

The broker said Man Group's shares offered "cheap downside protection" should the current "more constructive market backdrop" start to unravel.

Abrdn was also in positive territory, rising 1.96%, despite a downgrade from Jefferies to ‘hold’ from ‘buy’.

On the downside, Ashmore Group fell 2.06% even after it posted a 2% rise in second-quarter assets under management to $57.2bn, with the investment manager hailing a strong performance from emerging markets.

Gold miner Centamin was 3.37% lower after it said Egypt’s Supreme Constitutional Court ruled that a local law stopping third-party challenges to a deal between the government and an investor was constitutional.

The case related to a challenge started in 2011, which wanted a halt to deals struck in Egypt in relation to privatisations which took place during Hosni Mubarak's administration of 1981 to 2011.

Centamin runs the Sukari gold mine in Egypt.

Outside the FTSE 350, guarantor lender Amigo Holdings tumbled 24.62% after saying it had failed to secure a commitment from a cornerstone investor to underwrite the whole of its £45m capital raise.

The company said it was now looking for a syndicate of investors.

ITM Power also slid, closing 12.04% weaker, after issuing its third profit warning in eight months.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com. Additional reporting by Michele Maatouk, Frank Prenesti and Abigail Townsend.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,860.07 0.20%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,082.33 0.65%
techMARK (TASX) 4,559.80 0.47%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Ocado Group (OCDO) 808.00p 5.18%
BT Group (BT.A) 130.45p 2.72%
Spirax-Sarco Engineering (SPX) 11,760.00p 2.71%
Prudential (PRU) 1,325.50p 2.51%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 117.35p 2.27%
Kingfisher (KGF) 271.50p 2.22%
Intertek Group (ITRK) 4,375.00p 2.22%
Unite Group (UTG) 1,004.00p 2.14%
WPP (WPP) 942.00p 1.99%
Smurfit Kappa Group (CDI) (SKG) 3,501.00p 1.95%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Beazley (BEZ) 633.50p -3.65%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 6,096.00p -1.98%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 107.16p -1.47%
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 2,194.00p -1.08%
National Grid (NG.) 1,022.00p -1.06%
Glencore (GLEN) 552.50p -1.06%
Admiral Group (ADM) 2,161.00p -1.05%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 701.80p -0.88%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 1,029.00p -0.77%
BP (BP.) 481.00p -0.69%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Ascential (ASCL) 224.00p 7.90%
888 Holdings (DI) (888) 93.95p 5.27%
ASOS (ASC) 783.50p 5.17%
Carnival (CCL) 798.40p 5.08%
Playtech (PTEC) 552.00p 4.84%
W.A.G Payment Solutions (WPS) 78.90p 4.23%
Workspace Group (WKP) 501.50p 3.92%
Man Group (EMG) 237.60p 3.76%
Trainline (TRN) 312.10p 3.52%
Howden Joinery Group (HWDN) 685.80p 3.22%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 161.15p -5.76%
Darktrace (DARK) 252.20p -3.56%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 118.95p -3.37%
Hiscox Limited (DI) (HSX) 1,080.00p -2.92%
Marshalls (MSLH) 314.80p -2.48%
Quilter (QLT) 101.20p -2.36%
Lancashire Holdings Limited (LRE) 639.00p -2.14%
Bank of Georgia Group (BGEO) 2,605.00p -2.07%
Ashmore Group (ASHM) 266.00p -2.06%
Direct Line Insurance Group (DLG) 172.35p -2.05%