Britain’s blue-chip stock index has hit its highest level since the first week of the Iran war this morning.
The FTSE 100 climbed as high as 10,701 points this morning, up 0.4%, its highest level since 3 March.
Precious metals miner Fresnillo (+2.5%), engineering firm Weir Group (+2%), and energy company SSE (+1.8%) are the top risers.
Several factor are lifting the ‘Footsie’, including hopes of a US-Iran peace deal which have pushed the oil price down (and could send it lower…)
A weaker-than-expected US employment report, released yesterday, has also cheered traders by dampening expectations of rises in US interest rates.
Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell, explained:
double quotation mark“Weak jobs numbers would normally be a key reason for central banks to consider cutting rates to stimulate the economy.
The latest US jobs data confirms labour market disappointment but we’re nowhere near the stage where the Fed will reach for the monetary policy scissors to start cutting. We’re more likely to see an adjustment to the Fed’s assessment that implies no change to rates, which is still a win for markets.
Thirdly, investors are ‘rotating’ out of chip stocks (following a stellar start to the year) and into ‘old economy’ companies instead, and there are plenty of those on the London stock market.
