London markets are now on FTSE 100 8,000 watch after 2022 results from FTSE 100 stalwarts British American Tobacco, Unilever and AstraZeneca helped propel the index to fresh all-time highs and towards the 8,000 milestone.
The FTSE 100 was trading at 7,941 at the time of writing having hit 7,947 earlier in the session – a new all-time intraday high.
In reality, it was AstraZeneca driving most of the gains on Thursday with the pharma giant gaining 4.2% to 11,220p. AstraZeneca is the second largest company listed on London’s markets with a market cap of £166bn.
Unilever shares were largely flat while British American Tobacco shares slipped 4.6%.
Unilever’s revenue grew 9% in 2022 as the consumer group hiked prices to fight off price inflation. A worrying outlook for British American Tobacco’s core markets hit investor sentiment.
Gains in HSBC and Shell helped lift the FTSE 100 as both companies rose around 1%-1.5%.
Standard Chartered
Standard Chartered was the FTSE 100’s top gainer on reports of interest in the bank from First Abu Dhabi Bank.
“Reports suggest First Abu Dhabi Bank is still interested in buying Standard Chartered, despite guidance to the contrary last month,” said Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.
“If successful, it would represent yet another UK stock acquired by a foreign player. It would also play to the theory that industry players are more likely to buy UK-listed companies than private equity in the current environment.”
Standard Chartered was 9% higher at the time of writing.
Entain
It was potential M&A activity also driving Entain shares on Thursday. But in the case of gaming company Entain, it was a move to the downside as chances of a takeover were dashed in an analyst call.
“Entain has fallen sharply after rumours about a possible takeover were quashed. Speculation that MGM might be ready to make a move were shut down by the company during an analyst call,” said Susannah Streeter, senior investment and markets analyst, Hargreaves Lansdown.
“BetMGM, Entain’s joint venture with US-based MGM, has been a shining light for the group that’s expected to start turning a profit over the second half of 2023 and that’s partly why the rumour mills have been whirring.”