London close: Banks, financials and property fly amid BoE rate-cut chatter

"Today marks the first day since the (non-binding Brexit) referendum result (on 23 June) that has truly seen risk appetite return," said Joshua Mahony, market analyst at IG.

"Not only have we seen sweeping stock market gains, but recent targets such as sterling has gained at the expense of havens such as gold and the Japanese yen," he said.

Some of the London gains were helped by the US Federal Reserve Open Market Committee's minutes last night, which suggested it was unlikely to hike rates any time soon. All eyes are now looking to tomorrow's US non-farm payrolls data.

The market liked forecast-beating UK industrial and manufacturing data for May this morning, while eurozone indices rose, apparently unhindered by the European Central Bank expressing concerns about Brexit's economic fallout for the single-currency bloc.

At about 16:55 BST, FTSE 100 was up 1.26% to 6,545.23 and FTSE 250 was up 1.66% to 15,930.49.

"The FTSE 100 (was) once again outperforming due to a rebound in some of the bigger fallers over the past few days," said Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets UK, pointing to the trinity of sectors dominating the top end of the blue-chip ladder.

He also noted continued outperformance from the basic resources sector.

"Markets like the idea of lower rates for longer," said Mike van Dulken at Accendo Markets.

Trading in overnight swaps and recent hints by BoE governor Mark Carney that rates might be cut this summer have led to widespread market chatter that the scrutinised central bank might slash its benchmark rate as early as next week.

"Today, the pendulum has swung back to cautious optimism, but this is likely a pause in an ongoing rout in the share prices," said IG analyst Chris Beauchamp.

"With property funds continuing to shutter (redemptions), investors are likely to continue to pull money from both banks and REITs on concerns that the UK is entering a property slump."

Among today's biggest blue-chip risers were banks behind Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds and Barclays, with commercial property guided by titans Land Securities and British Land.

House builders, hitherto under pressure for days, were led by Taylor Wimpey, Persimmon and Barratt Developments. Halifax's house-price index today indicated slowing underlying growth in the sector.

Meantime, US rates-sensitive utilities clocked out lower today, as did Randgold Resources and Fresnillo as other miners appreciated managed gains. Oil majors were off the pace, but nonetheless ahead.

At 1630 BST, gold was down 0.69% to $1357.60 an ounce. West Texas Intermediate was down 1.6% to $46.67 a barrel, while Brent was off 1.52% to $48.06 a barrel. Same time, sterling was up 0.04% to fetch $1.2936 and up 0.37% to buy €1.1693.

In company news, Associated British Foods flew higher after it said the significant weakness in the pound after last week's Brexit vote had improved the outlook for the current financial year and it no longer expect a decline in adjusted earnings per share for the group.

Marks & Spencer shares ripped lower as it reported a huge drop in first-quarter clothing sales as new chief executive Steve Rowe's recovery plan for general merchandise took hold, though group sales were up 1.3% and he remained confident in his full-year guidance.

Hospitality group Whitbread has exchanged agreements with Legal & General for the sale and leaseback of its 389-room ‘Hub by Premier Inn’ hotel in Kings Cross, due to open in 2017, in exchange for a 25 year lease agreement.

High-street retailer Sports Direct dashed north in in spite of reporting a "disappointing" year, with retail revenue excluding Irish chain Heatons improving by just 0.6%. Overall, its reported pre-tax gained 15.4% at £361.8m.

Egyptian gold miner Centamin dived as it said second-quarter output from its Sukari operation increased 12% to 140,306 ounces on the previous quarter and 30% year-on-year.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 6,545.23 1.26%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 15,930.49 1.66%
techMARK (TASX) 3,240.46 1.03%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Associated British Foods (ABF) 2,796.00p 9.52%
Provident Financial (PFG) 2,412.00p 8.16%
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 158.60p 6.51%
Dixons Carphone (DC.) 298.00p 5.82%
Schroders (SDR) 2,325.00p 5.63%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 122.10p 5.35%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 348.70p 4.84%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 49.70p 4.52%
London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) 2,519.00p 4.39%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 962.50p 4.34%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Fresnillo (FRES) 1,916.00p -4.58%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 9,280.00p -4.48%
Severn Trent (SVT) 2,451.00p -1.09%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 1,021.00p -1.07%
National Grid (NG.) 1,105.00p -0.94%
Mondi (MNDI) 1,359.00p -0.73%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,161.00p -0.68%
Pearson (PSON) 948.00p -0.68%
Tesco (TSCO) 160.80p -0.50%
Mediclinic International (MDC) 1,101.00p -0.45%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Aldermore Group (ALD) 115.30p 10.02%
Thomas Cook Group (TCG) 59.75p 9.33%
International Personal Finance (IPF) 283.70p 8.86%
Intermediate Capital Group (ICP) 485.90p 7.12%
Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 957.50p 7.10%
Rightmove (RMV) 3,390.00p 6.84%
NCC Group (NCC) 278.80p 6.45%
Redrow (RDW) 293.20p 6.39%
CMC Markets (CMCX) 281.70p 6.34%
Zoopla Property Group (WI) (ZPLA) 255.10p 5.89%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Hochschild Mining (HOC) 204.70p -11.19%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 158.10p -4.64%
TalkTalk Telecom Group (TALK) 208.00p -4.19%
Pennon Group (PNN) 899.50p -3.54%
McCarthy & Stone (MCS) 140.30p -3.24%
Telecom Plus (TEP) 1,006.00p -2.80%
Galliford Try (GFRD) 785.50p -2.66%
AO World (AO.) 138.10p -2.33%
Ibstock (IBST) 113.70p -1.81%
Atkins (WS) (ATK) 1,269.00p -1.55%