Helped by the late night deal over Greece and better than expected US housing figures on Tuesday, stock markets are moving higher again.
Banks are among the main risers, as investors bet they will benefit if the Federal Reserve sanctions an interest rate hike in June or July. Royal Bank of Scotland, which raised £85m in a share offering, is up 7.8p to 253.1p, HSBC is 10.15p higher at 444.4p while Barclays is 2.9p better at 184.3p.
Mining shares have also gained ground as risk returns, with BHP Billiton up 18.6p at 835.3p.
Overall the FTSE 100 is up 38.71 points at 6257.97. Tony Cross, market analyst at Trustnet Direct, said:
It was a broad-based rally as stockmarkets rode the wave of improving economic conditions in the US, dampening Brexit fears, and a “major breakthrough” on Greece, which secured bailout loans from the Eurogroup and the IMF to avert an uncertain default.
But Marks & Spencer has slumped 35.1p to 409.6p on disappointment with its results, dragging Next 135p lower to £53.75p.
But Dixons Carphone has climbed 2.4p to 450.5p as it said full year pretax profits would be at the top end of expectations, boosted by a strong performance from its UK mobile phone business. It said profits would be between £445m and £450m, compared to its earlier forecast of £440m at the lower end. The forecast came after fourth quarter like for like sales rose 5%. In a buy note Investec analyst Alistair Davies said:
A strong finish to the year sets Dixons Carphone up well heading into 2017. UK performance is becoming more balanced between mobile and electricals, and the Nordics like for like growth is likely to be ahead of the market, with a more stable gross margin outlook likely in our view. No further updates are given on CWS [its Connected World Services division] at this stage, but we would expect more colour on the business and its opportunities at June’s prelims. Valuation (12.5 times 2017 PE) and 5% sector discount are not reflective of core business growth and longer-term potential.
Intertek is down 119p at £31.78 after the testing equipment specialist reported slower organic growth.
Among the mid-caps Serco’s update pleased the market, and the outsourcing group’s shares have climbed 10.4p to 101.9p.
But transport group Stagecoach has slipped 14.8p to 242p after JP Morgan downgraded from overweight to neutral on concerns about slowing revenues at its rail business, especially the East Coast franchise.
