London close: FTSE gains on financials as US consumer inflation surprises

The FTSE 100 ended the session up 0.47% or 33.85 points at 7,302.41, sitting just below its record closing high. The FTSE 250 closed up 0.21% at 18,827.05, yet another all-time closing high.

FTSE 350 indices for banks, life insurance, construction & materials, pharmaceuticals & biotechnology and fixed-line telecommunications were prominent risers, all up more than 1%.

"Another day in the green for the FTSE, as the global equity boom continues to push onwards irrespective of anything coming from the economic calendar," said IG market analyst Josh Mahony.

"It has been a busy day which has seen UK inflation, alongside US inflation and retail sales do little to stand in the way of this stock market rally train," Mahony added in a statement.

Office for National Statistics said while the UK's headline jobless rate held at 4.8%, as expected, the country's wage growth surprisingly slowed in December as the labour market slightly improved.

Spreadex’s Connor Campbell said the overall mixed nature of the jobs report meant the morning's trading trends were not significantly disrupted.

This afternoon, the US consumer-price index (CPI) sped past forecasts in January, with a key measure of 'core' inflation coming in significantly ahead of market views.

This after US Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen on Tuesday issued a surprisingly hawkish tone in testimony before a Senate committee. The market has interpreted Yellen's words as indicative of a possible US rate hike in March, although that was by no means a certainty.

Wall St thus plotted a positive course in early deals, while this side of the Atlantic the Euro Stoxx 50, DAX and CAC 40 all enjoyed moderate gains.

"The best performing (European) sector has been banks and financials which are leading the gainers on the back of yesterday’s hawkish interpretation of Fed Chief Janet Yellen’s comments," said Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets UK.

In the UK, this translated to lenders Standard Chartered, Royal Bank of Scotland, Barclays, Lloyds and HSBC all rising 1% or more, with insurers Old Mutual, Legal & General and Prudential similarly ahead.

London Capital Group senior market analyst Jasper Lawler noted a similar theme to Hewson, and said that Brexit fears had so far been proven unfounded, noting that Europe faced its own election risk.

"The UK-focused FTSE 250 has been one of biggest beneficiaries," Lawler added in a statement.

He believed UK PM Theresa May's "transparent" approach to Brexit had seen the pound stabilise and investors rotate out of multinational shares and back into more UK-focused companies.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,302.41 0.47%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 18,827.20 0.21%
techMARK (TASX) 3,357.67 0.45%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Ashtead Group (AHT) 1,708.00p 2.52%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 817.90p 2.39%
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 246.00p 2.07%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,420.00p 2.01%
Barclays (BARC) 239.25p 1.70%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 67.47p 1.47%
Old Mutual (OML) 216.80p 1.45%
Intertek Group (ITRK) 3,534.00p 1.35%
BT Group (BT.A) 309.70p 1.29%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 4,684.00p 1.25%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 1,130.00p -7.22%
Capita (CPI) 507.50p -3.70%
Next (NXT) 3,847.00p -2.68%
Dixons Carphone (DC.) 304.80p -2.62%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 330.60p -1.75%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 866.00p -1.48%
Paddy Power Betfair (PPB) 8,430.00p -1.40%
Informa (INF) 656.00p -1.06%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 704.50p -0.84%
Micro Focus International (MCRO) 2,200.00p -0.81%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Acacia Mining (ACA) 519.50p 3.49%
OneSavings Bank (OSB) 364.50p 3.23%
Senior (SNR) 197.50p 3.08%
Hunting (HTG) 587.00p 2.98%
Millennium & Copthorne Hotels (MLC) 433.20p 2.74%
NewRiver REIT (NRR) 331.70p 2.66%
Ibstock (IBST) 195.90p 2.62%
Entertainment One Limited (ETO) 252.00p 2.44%
Elementis (ELM) 309.80p 2.38%
BGEO Group (BGEO) 3,157.00p 2.23%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Ladbrokes Coral Group (LCL) 121.80p -3.18%
William Hill (WMH) 264.30p -2.83%
Carillion (CLLN) 218.00p -2.29%
Aberdeen Asset Management (ADN) 262.40p -2.20%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 268.10p -2.19%
B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 296.20p -2.02%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 172.90p -1.54%
Pets at Home Group (PETS) 181.40p -1.52%
Lancashire Holdings Limited (LRE) 680.00p -1.45%
RPC Group (RPC) 922.50p -1.44%