(Reuters) -London’s FTSE 100 gained on Thursday as a set of strong earnings reports helped investors look past concerns over rising COVID-19 infections in the UK, while Associated British Foods jumped to the top of the blue-chip index.
The food and clothing retailer rose 4% to hit its highest in nearly two weeks after third-quarter sales at its Primark fashion stores, which reopened after COVID-19 lockdowns, came in ahead of expectations in all markets.
The FTSE 100 climbed 1.2% with heavyweight financials and precious and base metal miners leading gains on strong commodity prices.
“Most corporate earnings are bound to show good performance as they’re compared to the previous year when we were right in the centre of the pandemic, and we expect earnings for most companies to look bright going ahead as we slowly begin to exit the lockdowns,” said Keith Temperton, a sales trader at Forte Securities.
The domestically focussed mid-cap index added 0.9% with flight operator Easyjet being the top boost. Travel stocks gained 2.2%.
Britain is working with countries across the European Union to encourage them to accept its fully vaccinated travellers, its business minister said, as momentum builds for a fuller reopening of travel from the United Kingdom.
The FTSE 100 has gained 10.2% so far this year, helped by support from cheap interest rates and government stimulus. However, it has largely underperformed the wider European market as a recent jump in coronavirus cases raised concerns about the pace of economic recovery.
Among stocks, Royal Dutch Shell gained 1.6% on plans to leave Aera, its California-based oil and gas-producing joint venture with Exxon Mobil Corp, four people familiar with the talks told Reuters.
Online electrical retailer AO World fell 0.6% even after reporting annual profit that nearly tripled on strong demand for home appliances and office products due to the pandemic.
Source: Read Full Article