Leading shares have shrugged off the No vote in Italy’s referendum and the subsequent resignation of prime minister Matteo Renzi, preferring to concentrate on the far right’s defeat in Austria’s presidential election.
European luxury goods groups have been boosted by positive broker notes, which has helped lifted Burberry more than 2% to £14.42. The company has also been lifted by a report it had rejected several takeover approaches from US fashion accessories group Coach.
Banks are also in demand with Barclays 6.15p better at 219.1p and Royal Bank of Scotland rising 4.1p to 197.5p after it settled claims with a group of shareholders.
With copper prices on the rise, mining shares benefitted. Antofagasta has added 18p to 711.5p while BHP Billiton was 30.5p better at 1334.5p. But gold and silver slipped back as investors moved away from safer sectors, leaving Randgold Resources down 180p at £56.45 and Fresnillo 33p lower at £11.65.
Overall the FTSE 100 is currently 55.24 points higher at 6785.96, with the latest UK services sector survey showing a better than expected performance in November.
Among the mid-caps, Polypipe has added 4% to 315.9p after Jefferies issued a buy note with a 350p price target. It said:
Polypipe trades at around 11 times calendar 2017 PE, with earnings per share set to grow 9% in 2017 and 5% in 2018. Volumes should be solid, supported by growing new-build and infrastructure markets, while the natural substitution of plastic pipes should help offset slower RMI [repair, maintenance and improvement] markets. A rising oil price will increase polymer costs, but history suggests this can be passed on to customers.
Lower down the market Purplebricks has put on 19p to 124.25p as the online estate agent’s profits jumped 153% to £10.4m.
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