London close: Stocks end mixed despite 'dovish' BoE
(Sharecast News) - London stocks finished on a mixed note on Thursday as investors cheered the Bank of England's dovish policy stance at its latest rate-setting meeting.
"Policy should both lean strongly against downside risks to the outlook and ensure that the recovery was not undermined by a premature tightening in monetary conditions," the minutes of the Monetary Policy Committee's meeting read.
"Most members judged that the conditions set out in the MPC's existing policy guidance, which were in any case necessary but not sufficient conditions for any future tightening in monetary policy, were not met."
Against that backdrop, the FTSE 100 was up 0.51% at 7,109.97 and sterling was 0.42% weaker versus the dollar at 1.3905 after the BoE kept interest rates on hold at 0.1% and left its bond-buying programme unchanged.
The second-tier index on the other hand gave back 0.66% to 22,510.12.
Worth noting, in parallel, traders on Wall Street were pushing the main stock market gauges to fresh record highs.
Back on home shores, as expected by the consensus, the MPC voted unanimously to hold pat on rates and 8-1 to leave quantitative easing unchanged.
In corporate news, Crest Nicholson rallied after the housebuilder said it swung to a first-half profit and upgraded its full-year profit guidance amid solid demand. Peers followed suit, with Berkeley, Barratt and Taylor Wimpey all up.
IG market analyst Chris Beauchamp said: "The UK recovery is certainly in full swing where homes are concerned, Britons having escaped from lockdown by renewing their love affair with property. Activity in the market is certainly on the rise, with 'business as usual' returning remarkably quickly."
Elsewhere, distribution specialist Bunzl gained after it said first-half revenue is expected to increase by around 1% at actual exchange rates and 6% - 7% at constant rates as a recovery in its base business, including the food service and retail sectors was largely offset by a fall in Covid-related orders.
Wealth manager Rathbone Brothers was weaker after it raised net proceeds of around £49m in a placing to help fund the £150m acquisition of UK financial planning business Saunderson House. The company placed just over 2.8m ordinary shares with institutional investors at 1,760p each, which is a 7.9% to the closing share price on Wednesday.
United Utilities, Vodafone, Airtel Africa, Tate & Lyle, and LXI Reit were all in the red as they traded without entitlement to the dividend.
Airtel Africa and Wood Group were the biggest fallers on the FTSE 250.
The latter's shares took a big hit after management said that the engineering and consultancy outfit's half-revenues were expected to be down around 21% on the previous year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,109.97 0.51%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 22,510.12 -0.66%
techMARK (TASX) 4,463.01 -0.27%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Flutter Entertainment (CDI) (FLTR) 14,370.00p 3.72%
Anglo American (AAL) 2,924.00p 3.61%
Just Eat Takeaway.Com N.V. (CDI) (JET) 6,565.00p 2.67%
Entain (ENT) 1,850.00p 1.96%
NATWEST GROUP PLC ORD 100P (NWG) 209.00p 1.85%
Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 1,291.50p 1.81%
Royal Mail (RMG) 589.00p 1.76%
BHP Group (BHP) 2,118.00p 1.70%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 1,982.50p 1.67%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 5,290.00p 1.65%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Vodafone Group (VOD) 125.30p -4.10%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 990.20p -3.02%
Evraz (EVR) 598.00p -2.73%
Informa (INF) 505.60p -1.98%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 155.40p -1.71%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 107.78p -1.52%
Imperial Brands (IMB) 1,561.00p -1.30%
BT Group (BT.A) 202.70p -1.27%
Pearson (PSON) 835.00p -1.23%
Legal & General Group (LGEN) 263.30p -1.13%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Chrysalis Investments Limited NPV (CHRY) 255.00p 4.94%
Kainos Group (KNOS) 1,446.00p 4.33%
Biffa (BIFF) 307.50p 3.02%
Just Eat Takeaway.Com N.V. (CDI) (JET) 6,565.00p 2.67%
Liontrust Asset Management (LIO) 1,694.00p 2.67%
Baillie Gifford US Growth Trust (USA) 344.00p 2.38%
BB Healthcare Trust (Red) (BBH) 195.00p 1.99%
TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 410.10p 1.94%
NCC Group (NCC) 295.50p 1.90%
RHI Magnesita N.V. (DI) (RHIM) 4,190.00p 1.80%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Wood Group (John) (WG.) 206.60p -9.78%
Airtel Africa (AAF) 77.70p -7.83%
LXI Reit (LXI) 135.40p -6.23%
4Imprint Group (FOUR) 2,750.00p -4.84%
Just Group (JUST) 91.65p -4.13%
Cineworld Group (CINE) 83.66p -4.10%
Trainline (TRN) 289.60p -4.04%
Network International Holdings (NETW) 364.30p -3.93%
Renishaw (RSW) 4,996.00p -3.74%
Syncona Limited NPV (SYNC) 207.00p -3.72%
Disclaimer & Declaration of Interest
The information, investment views and recommendations in this article are provided for general information purposes only. Nothing in this article should be construed as a solicitation to buy or sell any financial product relating to any companies under discussion or to engage in or refrain from doing so or engaging in any other transaction. Any opinions or comments are made to the best of the knowledge and belief of the writer but no responsibility is accepted for actions based on such opinions or comments. Vox Markets may receive payment from companies mentioned for enhanced profiling or publication presence. The writer may or may not hold investments in the companies under discussion.