The FTSE 100 was on the front foot on Tuesday as oil dipped and Anthropic filed for its IPO, boosting sentiment and driving US stocks to record highs.
London’s leading index was 0.3% higher at the time of writing.
“Oil down, markets up – these are welcome movements for investors after three months of uncertainty around the Iran war,” says Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.
“Brent crude fell 1.1% to $93.90 after Israel halted strikes on Lebanon, raising hopes that a peace deal is still plausible. The further the oil price retreats from the $100 per barrel level, the greater investors’ risk appetite. This explains why miners and consumer cyclical stocks led the charge on the FTSE 100. Defensive-style sectors including healthcare and utilities didn’t fare as well as there was classic portfolio rotation.”
There’s nothing like a bumper IPO to fire up the animal spirits and markets were also given a boost by Anthropic, which fired the starting gun on its US IPO, thought to value the company at over $1 trillion.
“AI enthusiasm is still the talk of the town, with Anthropic is joining the listing party, filing paperwork for an IPO later this year,” said Susannah Streeter, Chief Investment Strategist, Wealth Club.
“The company is clearly keen to capitalise on mega-enthusiasm washing through markets for artificial intelligence investments. It’s hot on the heels of SpaceX’s filing, and there are expectations that OpenAI will also go public pretty soon.”
London’s lack of major listed AI plays meant the uptick in sentiment played out in those sectors most sensitive to oil prices.
Rightmove was the FTSE 100’s top riser at the time of writing, on hopes the UK housing market may pick up once the conflict in the Middle East is resolved. Rightmove added 3.5% as Persimmon and Barratt Redrow rallied on similar sentiments.
Retailers caught investors’ attention with Kingfisher rising 3.3% and Marks & Spencer adding 2%.
As Russ Mould alluded to above, defensive sectors were the worst performers. British American Tobacco was the FTSE 100’s top faller, losing 3.5%, closely followed by Babcock and Imperial Brands.