With especially strong growth in its sizeable mining sector, the FTSE 100 climbed 1.14%. Just enough for the UK index to get back to 7,000.
“On Wednesday the UK index traded 1.14% higher at 7,002 thanks to the best efforts of miners and financials. Cyclical stocks were very much in favour, with construction groups CRH and Ashtead also joining the top risers,” says Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.
A bait and switch from US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen helped the European markets try and recover some of Tuesday’s losses after the bell.
“Yellen had said on Tuesday that ‘it may be that interest rates have to rise somewhat’ to prevent the post-covid economy from overheating. A statement, obviously, that didn’t go down well with investors, who were already fretting over the impact of the ongoing chip shortage on tech and car stocks,” said Connor Campbell, financial analyst at Spreadex.
Such was the reaction that the former Fed chair issued a correction, of sorts, assuring the markets that a rate hike is neither something she is ‘predicting or recommending’.
FTSE 100 Top Movers
CRH (3.42%), BHP (3.32%) and Croda International (3.28%) all made solid gains during the morning session on Wednesday.
Just Eat (-1.49%), Ocado (-1.09%) and Land Securities (-0.97%) are the biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 at mid-morning trading.
New UK Car Sales up 3,000%
New car sales in Britain surged by 3,000% in April as car showrooms were reopened to the public, boosting the numbers from the year before when lockdowns decimated car sales.
According to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), new registrations came in at 141,583 vehicles, up from only 4,321 in April 2020, which was the lowest level of any single month since February 1946.
