The FTSE 100 closed Wednesday’s session with a modest gain, edging 0.16% higher to 7,516.87 points on ongoing optimism over the impact of the less severe Omicron strain and support from a solid ADP private sector payrolls report across the pond, which prepared investors for a decent non-farm payrolls print on Friday.
Blue chip miners Rio Tinto (RIO) and BHP (BHP), banks Lloyds (LLOY) and NatWest (NWG) and oil majors BP (BP.) and Royal Dutch Shell (RDSB) were in demand with investors keen for exposure to beneficiaries of an improving global economy and the expected rise in yields and interest rates around the world.
Broker upgrades helped lift some heavyweight stocks, while supermarkets gained ground on positive industry data.
OCADO TOPS FTSE
Shares in Ocado (OCDO) ripened 3.5% to £16.10 to top the FTSE 100 leader board as the online groceries specialist was shown to be the only operator tracked by market research outfit Kantar to beat its festive performance in 2020, sales up 2.5% year-on-year in the 12 weeks to 26 December.
Sainsbury’s (SBRY) rose 1.5% to 281.5p and Tesco (TSCO) ticked up 1% to 296.7p, as the Kantar data revealed bumper Christmas for the supermarket sector with £11.7 billion worth of sales in December, helping Ocado’s FTSE 250-listed joint venture partner Marks & Spencer (MKS) 4.7% higher to 249.7p.
Elsewhere, pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca (AZN) was off 0.15% at £84.60 after announcing that it had completed the transfer of its global rights for pulmonary drugs Eklira and Duaklir to Covis Pharma for $270 million.
Eklira, known as Tudorza in the US, and Duaklir are inhaled respiratory medicines used for the maintenance treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Shares in telecommunications and mobile money services company Airtel Africa (AAF) cheapened 0.14% to 140.9p after it announced the first closing of the transaction to sell its telecommunications tower assets in Tanzania to a joint venture company owned by a subsidiary of SBA Communications Corporation, and Paradigm Infrastructure.
The gross consideration for the transaction is $176.1 million. Around $60 million from the proceeds would be used to invest in network and sales infrastructure in Tanzania and for distribution to the Government of Tanzania.
‘The balance of the proceeds will be used to reduce debt at group level’, the company added.
AROUND THE MARKET
Shares in London Stock Exchange (LSEG) were marked up 1.7% to £71.88 following an upgrade to ‘buy’ from ‘neutral’ at Citigroup.
Concurrent Technologies (CNC:AIM) sparked up 9.4% to 87.5p on news the high-end embedded computer products maker expects to report slightly better than expected sales and profits for 2021, despite the ongoing challenges the global component supply chain is experiencing.
The company assured that whilst the component issues are ongoing, Concurrent enters 2022 with ‘a robust order book and an exciting pipeline of innovative product releases to grow our customer base and revenues in 2022 and beyond.’
Specialty pharmaceutical company Shield Therapeutics (STX:AIM) skipped 2.1% higher to 48p after it entered into an exclusive licence agreement for Accrufer its iron deficiency product, with KYE Pharmaceuticals in Canada.
Under the agreement, KYE Pharmaceuticals will undertake and be responsible for all costs required to achieve marketing authorisation and commercialisation of Accrufer in Canada. Shield will receive double-digit royalties on net sales of Accrufer.
And Facilities by ADF (ADF:AIM), which provides premium serviced production facilities to the UK film and television industry, gained 9% to trade at 54.5p in debut dealings on the junior market.
