Key Points
- FTSE 100 closing price of 7,109.4, +0.41%
- BP and Shell lead FTSE higher
- Meme stocks in focus
- WTI and Brent gain on demand hopes
- FX markets quiet
- Doge rallies on Coinbase Pro introduction
By Samuel Indyk
Investing.com – The FTSE 100 finished with slight gains on Wednesday, supported by an increase in large-cap energy names as oil benchmarks posted gains.
On Tuesday, the OPEC+ group gave a positive assessment of oil market dynamics, continuing with their plan to ease production cuts in July, suggesting a unanimous view that demand is to pick up. The IEA also said they see demand returning to pre-pandemic levels in a year, sooner than some analysts had been expecting.
The increasing oil prices helped lift shares in Royal Dutch Shell (LON:RDSa) and BP (LON:BP), who again traded near the top of the FTSE 100.
Wizz Air (LON:WIZZ) shares were in focus after the company announced full year results. The budget airline said it would likely report a loss for the current financial year if there was not an “accelerated and permanent” lifting of restrictions on the travel industry.
Meme stocks were back in focus, especially cinema chain AMC Entertainment (NYSE:AMC) whose shares reached an all-time high in early trade. The company, which is a favourite of traders on Reddit’s WallStreetBets, jumped despite news that Mudrick Capital Management had flipped its newly bought shares for a profit in less than 24 hours. AMC Entertainment was the most talked about stock on WallStreetBets on 1st June, receiving 3,162 mentions, according to Quiver Quantitative.
FX and bond markets were relatively quiet with no tier-1 data releases from the US and Europe to look forward to. It appears all eyes are on Friday’s employment situation report from the BLS for with markets almost in “wait-and-see” mode until then. GBP/USD traded higher but remains below 1.42 and the three-year high hit on Tuesday.
Cryptocurrencies were slightly more eventful with Dogecoin jumping to its highest level since 19th May after Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) announced its Coinbase Pro platform will begin trading in the meme-based cryptocurrency from Thursday.
Other major cryptocurrencies posted firm gains with Ethereum reclaiming $2,700 and Bitcoin briefly trading back above $38,000 after dropping below $33,000 during the long weekend.
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