The FTSE 100 gained in early trade on Friday and looked set to close the week out on a high as European shares rallied amid rising investor sentiment.
London’s leading index was 0.4% higher at the time of writing as the German DAX added another 0.7%.
“European shares are largely holding onto yesterday’s gains, which saw Germany’s DAX reach a record high, with several other European indices closing at levels not seen since just before the Great Financial Crisis,” said Derren Nathan, head of equity research, Hargreaves Lansdown.
“It’s too early to call the end of US exceptionalism but there are signs that investors are looking to diversify.”
While there may be an element of rotation into European shares, it’s certainly not at the expense of US stocks that also pushed higher yesterday as a wave of optimism lifted all boats and took the S&P 500 further into positive territory on the year.
“The S&P 500 index extended its impressive winning streak to a seventh consecutive session, closing yesterday with a gain of nearly 0.41%, reflecting a significant improvement in investor sentiment,” said Linh Tran, Market Analyst at XS.com.
“The rally was primarily driven by renewed optimism over monetary policy easing and positive signals from U.S.–China trade relations, which have long been a major source of market uncertainty.”
FTSE 100 movers
AstraZeneca was the biggest contributor to the FTSE 100 gains in terms of the number of points, with a 1.7% gain as investors picked the stock up after recent selling driven by tariff concerns. GSK shares rose 1.6%.
St James’s Place was the FTSE 100 top riser after JPMorgan analysts bumped their price target up to 1,310p, maintaining its overweight rating.
Land Securities fell 1.6% despite releasing fairly respectable final results underscored by 5% rental growth.
“Land Securities was the biggest FTSE 100 faller despite reassuring investors that it hadn’t seen an impact of economic uncertainty on customer demand or investment markets,” explained Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.
Housebuilders Taylor Wimpey, Persimmon, Barratt, and Redrow were all flat or marginally lower. The sector has gained substantially since the Trump-induced volatility and has begun to flatline in recent sessions.
Mining shares were also lower and acted to offset gains elsewhere in the FTSE 100. Glencore and Antofagasta were both down less than 1%.