Proactive Investors - Financial services and retail segments are bolstering the FTSE 100’s prospects today.
Ocado (LON:OCDO) managed to etch out early-morning gains by adding 0.7% on the back of some promising retail sales figures showing 0.7% month-on-month growth compared to the 0.2% forecasted.
Spirits supplier Diageo (LON:DGE) also trended in the right direction, although the top of today’s leaderboard comprises a disparate bunch of blue chips.
Leading the footsie gainers is equipment rental company Ashtead Group (LON:AHT), which has added 1.5% to hit a four-month high of 5,583p.
Financial services heavy hitter Hargreaves Lansdown (LON:HRGV) is also on a rip, adding 1.4% to 922p, while Ladbrokes owner Entain (LON:ENT) takes the third spot among the risers.
The wider FTSE 100 index saw some early-morning volatility but has essentially stayed flat at yesterday’s closing price of 7,646.
Assessing the state of the market this Friday, Richard Hunter, head of markets at intereactive investor said: “ The premier index had a measured open after what has been a strong week buoyed by hopes of a soft landing in the US and potentially improving conditions in the UK, and has now risen by 2.7% in the year to date.
“Next week will provide new tests, with a raft of blue chips reporting including the UK banks, which should provide some colour in their response to the recent banking turmoil, the ongoing effects of a rising interest rate environment and also whether loan impairment provisions have been raised given the possibility of recessions this year in some of the developed economies.”
In the cryptocurrency space, bitcoin (BTC) has stumbled below US$30,000, with the BTC/USDT pair swapping for US$29,750 at the time of writing.
The benchmark cryptocurrency has struggled to sustain the 30k price point after posting six out of seven red candlesticks in the past week.
Bitcoin may be seeing some profit taking since hitting a 12-month high on July 13.
Ocado among Friday’s FTSE 100 leaders
Grocery technology company Ocado was buoyed by today’s solid retail numbers, adding 1.3% to 691.4p in opening trades.
Retail sales data beat market expectations today, coming in at 0.7% month-on-month growth compared to the 0.2% forecasted.
Another retail-adjacent blue chip, Diageo, has also pulled ahead, adding 0.7% to 3,423p.
Also among the leaders are insurance groups Hargreaves Lansdown and Beazley, adding 1.4% and 0.7% respectively.
As a whole, the FTSE 100 index opened flat at 7,643, as predicted by pre-market spread betters.
Tories slapped by Labour, Lib Dems in by-elections
Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives faced a reckoning this Friday after Labour secured the largest by-election win on record in Sebly and Ainsty.
The North Yorkshire seat overturned a 20,000-plus Tory majority to win by over 4,000 votes, with 25-year-old Keir Mather pipping Tory Candidate Claire Holmes to the post.
It marks the first time that Labour will represent the constituency since its 2010 inception.
Elsewhere, Labour’s attempt to overthrow the Tories in Boris Johnson’s former seat of Uxbridge didn’t pan out, with the Conservatives holding a small majority of 495 votes.
Labour party deputy Angela Rayner told BBC Breakfast “the decision in Uxbridge was related to Ulez”, adding: “The Uxbridge result shows that when you don’t listen to the voters, you don’t win elections.”
The Tories suffered another loss in the by-elections though, with Somerton and Frome going to the Liberal Democrats with an 11,000-vote majority.
The by-election was triggered by MP David Warburton's resignation in June after admitted to using cocaine.
Somerton and Frome, in Somerset, had traditionally been a Lib Dems stronghold before Warburton took over in 2015.
UK public sector borrow hits third-highest June on record
The UK spent more than it earned in taxes and other income in June 2023, resulting in borrowings of £18.5bn.
Although this was a slight improvement of £0.4 billion compared to June 2022, it marked the third-highest June borrowing since records began in 1993, following the peaks in June 2020 and 2022.
The increase in central government tax receipts and a significant reduction in debt interest payments from the previous year were partially offset by higher costs driven by inflation and the escalating cost of living. These expenses included energy support schemes introduced in October 2022 and increased benefit payments.
Public sector net borrowing (excluding public sector banks) was £18.5 billion.This is £0.4 billion less than in June 2022 and the third-highest June borrowing since monthly records began in 1993.
➡️ https://t.co/KpXBo6WdEW pic.twitter.com/UiFf36nbyW
— Office for National Statistics (ONS) (@ONS) July 21, 2023
As of the end of June 2023, public sector net debt stood at £2.6tn, representing around 100.8% of the UK's annual gross domestic product (GDP), a level not seen since the early 1960s.
Read more on Proactive Investors UK