The FTSE 100 is down by 0.59% in mid-morning trading on Friday to 6,739.36p as investors appear to have taken a more cautious stance. Tech stocks, while they do not make up a large portion of the UK index, have not fared so well, following a similar pattern across the Atlantic.
“The UK has lower exposure to tech stocks than many other markets around the world, but whatever happens in the US tends to affect investor sentiment globally,” says Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.
“Movements within the FTSE 100 would suggest investors have taken shelter in defensive names and value stocks, with utilities and tobacco sectors in demand,” Mould added.
Since the turn of the year the FTSE 100 is up by 2.5%.
FTSE 100 Top Movers
BT (2.02%), National Grid (1.94%) and Imperial Brands (1.32%) were the top risers on the FTSE 100 on Friday morning.
At the bottom, Rolls-Royce (-3.53%), Burberry (-3.03%) and IAG (-2.57%) were the day’s biggest fallers preemptions-lunchtime.
Natwest
The UK Treasury announced on Monday morning it had finalised the sale of £1.1bn worth of shares back to Natwest (LON:NWG). The Treasury’s stake in the British bank is now down to 59.8% from 61.7% following the third sale of its holding.
In an off-market buy, the FTSE 100 bank purchased 591m shares at a value of 190.5p each, worth £1.1bn in total. The shares were originally bought at around 500p apiece, so the sale represents a hefty loss. The UK Government bailed out RBS, now known as Natwest, in 2008 in order to protect the bank against a collapse at the height of the financial crisis.
Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust
The FTSE 100 trust confirmed one of its portfolio managers is set to retire. James Anderson, who manages the trust alongside Tom Slater, will step down in April 2022 after nearly 40 years at Baillie Gifford. Anderson joined Baillie Gifford in 1983 and became a partner four years later. He has been manager of Scottish Mortgage since 2000 and, since 2015, joint manager with Tom Slater.
