Sector movers: FTSE 100 making a run on record highs

The 'value' heavy FTSE 100 outperformed again at the end of the week, helped by a further dip in longer-term Gilt yields and a dip in Sterling's exchange rate versus the Greenback.

"The FTSE 100 continued Thursday's outperformance to a ten-month high following the Bank of England's (BoE) shift to a dovish stance," said IG senior market analyst Axel Rudolph.

"The 8,000 mark is now within reach as investor money finally heads to the undervalued UK stock market despite retail sales unexpectedly falling flat."

Worth noting, Rudolph wasn´t alone in noting recent increased inflows into European bourses more generally.

Against that backdrop, Friday's moves in the FSTE 350 were mostly driven by what news-flow there was to be had.

Thus, gains for Phoenix Group on the back of its latest full-year numbers saw Life Insurance top the leaderboard.

Vodafone shares meanwhile accounted for gains in Telecoms even after the Competition and Markets Authority warned that it and Three will need to find ways to assuage its competition concerns and show that their planned $19bn merger would not leave consumers worse off or face a full investigation.

Investors in Retailers were also able to cash in after the Office for National Statistics reported that retail sales volumes were unchanged in February when compared to the previous month.

Consensus had been for a decline of 0.4% month-on-month.

"Real household disposable income is picking up smartly as inflation falls, the MPC continues edging to a summer rate cut, and the housing market is returning to life too," said Rob Wood, chief UK economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics.

"After the Chancellor’s latest tax cuts, the Office for Budget Responsibility estimates that taxes and benefits will boost year-over-year growth in real disposable income by 0.8pp in 2024/25, and there may even be more tax cuts if Mr Hunt squeezes an Autumn Statement in ahead of a General Election late this year."

Top performing sectors so far today

Life Insurance 6,144.74 +2.23%

Personal Care, Drug and Grocery Stores 3,881.38 +1.59%

Telecommunications Service Providers 1,804.51 +1.14%

Retailers 3,975.16 +1.07%

Beverages 22,893.67 +0.95%

Bottom performing sectors so far today

Precious Metals and Mining 8,730.27 -1.55%

Construction & Materials 9,791.37 -1.03%

Personal Goods 16,551.80 -0.87%

Software & Computer Services 2,523.37 -0.78%

Household Goods & Home Construction 13,172.40 -0.65%