The FTSE 100 traded higher on Monday as the combination of French election results and optimism around the UK elections later this week helped propel stocks higher
“The FTSE 100 started July on the front foot, lifted by property, energy and financial stocks,” said AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould.
“Elections dominate the agenda this week. Overnight results saw the far-right Rassemblement National (RN) take a significant lead in the first round of French parliamentary elections. However, the lead was somewhat lower than expected and there was something of a relief rally in the euro and French stocks.”
London’s leading index was 0.35% higher at the time of writing.
Uk-centric stocks were among the top risers on Monday as traders geared up for the UK elections by buying stocks well placed to enjoy a Labour government’s focus on growth.
Gains in retailers Kingfisher and JD Sports reflected optimism around the health of the UK consumer should Labour win later this week.
Keir Starmer has promised to build 1.5m homes over the parliament. Of course, no one believes Labour will achieve this target, but they are likely to oversee the construction of more homes than the Tories.
Hopes of a spurt in construction activity helped send house builders higher on Monday with Persimmon gaining 2% and newly promoted Vistry jumping 1.8%.
Land Securities joined the property-themed action with a 2.5% drive to the upside.
Anglo American shares fell 2.2% after the miner said a fire at one of its Australian coal mines is likely to curtail annual production targets.
“Anglo American shares were under pressure as the company had to suspend production at its Grosvenor steelmaking coal mine in Queensland after an underground fire,” Russ Mould said.
“Mercifully, no-one was hurt in the incident but, while operational issues in a hazardous activity like mining are not unusual, the early indications are the mine will not be back online for months so this is a serious issue for the group.”
