The FTSE 100 rose tepidly on Wednesday as the market slowed in advance of US inflationary figures on Friday and bought into defensive sectors.
The US markets seemed unworried, with the NADAQ up 0.9% to 12,175.2, the NYSE up 1% to 16,019.5 and the S&P 500 gaining 0.9% to 4,160.6.
“The UK market appears to have stalled, just as many rail travellers will if the nationwide strike planned for later this month goes ahead,” said AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould.
“Investors are nervously eyeing US inflation figures due on Friday, with India’s central bank having just raised rates by more than expected as it looks to curb the inflationary threat.”
However, the housing market hit its first bump in the road, after months of climbing out of reach of the rising cost of living impacts.
House prices increased 1% in May, according to Halifax, with the average house price record set again, at £289,099. However, the overall pace of growth slowed down over the latest term.
“There were signs that the UK housing market, which has been defying gravity ever since coming out of a deep freeze necessitated by the pandemic, might finally be coming back to earth as prices went up at the slowest rate since the start of 2022,” said Mould.
Housing stocks shook the reports off, as Taylor Wimpey shares remained flat at 130.4p, Barratt Developments shares rose 0.1% to 506.9p, while Persimmon shares fell 0.6% to 2,216p.
Berkeley shares dropped 0.7% to 4,238p after news that former Schroders chair Michael Dobson had been hired to replace Glyn Barker, and is scheduled to start at the company on 6 September 2022.
“Glyn was appointed chair in July 2020 for a period of two years to oversee the transition of the board on the passing of the company’s founder and previous chair, Tony Pidgley,” said a Barkeley spokesperson.
Melrose shareholders enjoyed a pleasant day, as shares rose 8% to 153.5p following an announcement that the company would be launching a £500 million share buyback scheme hot on the heels of its $650 million sale of Ergotron this week.
“Industrial outfit Melrose – which operates a buy, repair and sell strategy – got a big thumbs up from investors as the model delivered again,” said Mould.
“The company wasted no time off the back of the recently announced sale of its US Ergotron business, as it unveiled plans to buy back £500 million worth of shares.”
Aveva shares climbed 5.1% to 2,344p after the group reported a 45% revenue spike to £1.1 billion in FY 2022 compared to £820.4 million in FY 2021, however it also noted a pre-tax loss of £18.6 million against a profit of £34.2 million the last year, as a result of its acquisition of data management software group OSLsoft.