FTSE 100 closes higher as tech stocks boost Wall Street
London’s FTSE 100 closed higher this afternoon after posting its second straight weekly drop, as oil majors provided the biggest boosts to the index.
Wall Street also opened higher as tech stocks showed signs of bouncing back from a poor month.
The blue-chip index advanced 0.5 per cent over the dat’s trading, buoyed by gains in gambling stocks Entain and Flutter.
After rising 10.9 per cent in the first four months of this year, the FTSE 100 has traded in a tight range in the past few sessions.
Investors are concerned that central banks may cut back support early as economies reopen and inflation picks up.
Meanwhile, the domestically focused mid-cap FTSE 250 added 0.4 per cent, as Cineworld rose 3.2 per cent in the afternoon, after pulling in more visitors than expected since cinemas reopened.
“Cineworld, which saw its share price fall dramatically as cinemas were mothballed, has been a key target for investors,” senior investment and markets analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, Susannah Streeter, said last week.
After climbing to the top of the FTSE 250 index this morning, IT provider Kainos has shed at least half of this morning’s gains, falling 2.20 per cent.
The firm jumped four per cent this morning after it posted a 124 per cent rise in annual pre-tax profit, but failed to keep momentum in the afternoon.
Market movers
The morning’s biggest winner, betting firm Entain, continued rising into the afternoon, up 2.6 per cent at the closing bell.
Meanwhile, catering group Compass enjoyed a filling afternoon, rising 1.92 per cent, sitting up at 1,569. Entertainment group Flutter also enjoyed a boost of 2.4 per cent to 13,120, as it eyes a US listing.
Recruitment firm PageGroup was the afternoon’s biggest faller, sinking by 4.57 per cent, followed by Investec’s 4.12 per cent plunge.
Trainline and energy giant Drax both dipped by 2.67 per cent and 2.40 per cent respectively.
On Wall Street
Wall Street’s main indexes gained on Monday, with the Nasdaq up about 1.5 per cent, as investors flocked to lagging technology shares.
The S&P 500 and Dow Jones also showed gains, up 1.1 and 0.6 per cent respectively.
Technology added 1.4% per cent leading sectoral gains, with Apple Inc, Microsoft Corp and Nvidia providing the biggest boost to the benchmark S&P 500 after a dire month for the sector.
Around the world
Asian stocks were mixed today as investors awaited US inflation readings for guidance on monetary policy.
Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan dipped 0.1 per cent, while Japan’s Nikkei and China’s blue chips added 0.2 per cent.
Nasdaq futures and S&P 500 futures gained 0.1 and 0.3 per cent respectively, while Eurostoxx 50 futures advanced 0.2 per cent.
After surveys of the global service sectors showed huge growth on Friday, all eyes will be on US inflation figures this week.
“Overall, the week’s data calendar doesn’t have a lot for financial markets to sink their teeth into. Next week, that will all change,” Jeffrey Halley, a senior market analyst at OANDA, said in a note.
“That probably means we have another week of headless chicken financial markets ahead of us. Hang on for the intra-day volatility and sentiment swings.”