The UK markets opened strong on Thursday morning, though it was still a relatively quiet start to the session. Adding another 0.3%, the FTSE 100 found its way back to the pre-pandemic levels struck at the tail end of last week.
The FTSE 250 fared even better, climbing half a percent to 22,450 – that’s around 20 points off last Thursday’s closing record, and 140 points short of yesterday’s intraday peak.
“Following its disastrous debut a couple of weeks ago, Deliveroo delivered its first figures as a tradable entity on Thursday. And they were good, with a 114% increase in Q1 orders year-on-year to 71 million, and a 130% surge in the gross transaction value (GTV) to £1.65 billion,” said Connor Campbell, financial analyst at Spreadex.
“However, with lockdown easing, the company is set to enter a period of deceleration in growth, warning that for the year GTV is expected to climb between 30% and 40% – between a quarter and a third of what it managed in Q1,” Campbell added.
Elsewhere the Eurozone indices weren’t quite as lively. The DAX approached 15,250 as it rose 0.2%, but with the IBEX up just 0.1%, and the CAC unchanged at 6,215.
As for the US open, after missing out on a closing all-time high last night, the Dow Jones is set to be back in the hunt this Thursday. Currently the futures have the index heading for a 0.4%, 120-point, rise, pushing it above 33,860.
FTSE 100
Berkley Group (2.16%), Entain (1.98%) and Kingfisher (1.81%) made the most ground on the UK index in the morning session on Thursday.
While Legal and General (-3.84%), St James’s Place (-2.56%) and Standard Life Aberdeen (-1.72%) are the biggest fallers.
Entain
Entain, owner of Ladbrokes and Coral, has confirmed its revenue fell during Q1 as the closure of its betting shops outweighed an increase in online revenue.
While the FTSE 100 company’s net gaming revenue rose by a third during the first quarter ending on 31 March, its 21st consecutive quarter of digital growth, the firm’s overall revenue fell by 13%.
