Investors completed a clean sweep of gains this week as the Footsie rose for five consecutive days.
The FTSE 100 finished the week on a quiet note with little to inspire big bets, but still ended 4.7 points higher at 6,334.63.
The attacks in Paris did little to rattle City traders as the blue-chip index marched more than 200 points higher over the course of the week. IG analyst Joshua Mahony said: “Despite the anxiety and initial risk-off sentiment seen early on Monday, markets are typically very resilient to the threat posed by terrorism.”
Defence shares were the order of the week in the wake of the attacks, with threats of a repeat around Europe bolstering demand.
BAE Systems, up 7.9p yesterday to 492p after Investec upgraded its rating from sell to buy, racked up an impressive 8.5 per cent rise this week. Cobham, up 1.7p yesterday to 291.8p, also rose 8.5 per cent over the week, while Smiths Group, 12p better off yesterday at 1,018p, gained almost 10 per in five days.
On the flip side, travel shares took a hit, with EasyJet, down another 29p yesterday to 1,685p, and British Airways owner IAG down 5.5p to 577p.
On a quiet day for the stock market, traders found inspiration in Imperial Tobacco – a favourite of the City’s gossip-mongers. Renewed speculation that it will be sucked up by British American Tobacco, 9.5p richer at 3,870p, sent Imperial’s shares close to record highs, up 61p to 3,553p, with its larger rival rumoured to be putting together financing before launching a mammoth bid.
Investors raised a glass to Diageo, the maker of Smirnoff vodka, which flowed 25.5p higher to 1,928p as broker JPMorgan lifted its target price to 2,140p. The shares have been on a tear since August on hopes it can join the wave of deal-making in the sector that has already engulfed SABMiller.
G4S slid 6.8p to 219p after Credit Suisse cut its rating to neutral, compounding the security giant’s recent misery.
Meanwhile, AIM-listed AquaBounty Technologies leapt 22.5p to 37p as the US Food and Drug Administration gave its genetically modified salmon the all-clear.
