Stocks in London made a solid end to the week on Friday following a stronger than expected US job report. On the domestic front, the race started to find the next prime minister for the UK as former Chancellor Rishi Sunak officially launched his bid for Number 10.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, US employment rose by 372,000 in June, slowing from a downwardly revised 384,000 in May. June’s figure topped FXStreet-cited forecasts of 268,000.
The FTSE 100 index closed up 7.16 points, or 0.1%, at 7,196.24. The FTSE 250 index closed up 37.42 points, or 0.2%, at 18,912.95. The AIM All-Share index closed up 6.27 points, or 0.7%, at 886.74.
For the week, the FTSE 100 rose 0.4%, the FTSE 250 gained 1.5% and the AIM All-Share added 1.1%.
The Cboe UK 100 ended flat at 718.08, the Cboe UK 250 closed up 0.5% at 16,475.90, the Cboe Small Companies inched up 0.2% to 13,226.15.
In Paris the CAC 40 stock index ended 0.4%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt ended 1.3%.
In the FTSE 100, JD Sports Fashion closed up 2.5% after the athletic apparel retailer named Andy Higginson as chair following an ‘extensive search process’ in a bid to put persistent corporate governance concerns to bed.
Higginson was formerly chair of supermarket chain Wm Morrison, from 2015 until its private equity takeover in November. He is also currently a senior independent director at Flutter.
In June, the firm shared that the process to recruit a new non-executive chair was ‘progressing at pace’, and ‘a number of high calibre candidates’ for chief executive were under consideration.
In May, Peter Cowgill left as executive chair with immediate effect. JD Sports in July 2021 had bowed to shareholder pressure over its corporate governance, agreeing to split its chair and CEO roles.
Energy stocks ended in the green, tracking spot oil prices higher. BP closed up 0.6%, Shell up 0.6% and Harbour Energy up 2.1%. Midcap oil stocks Energean and Tullow Oil closed up 3.3% and 5.6% respectively.
In addition, Harbour said EIG’s notifiable shareholding in the company fell to roughly 16% from around 37%. The North Sea-focused oil producer said the change reflects a distribution of EIG’s shareholding in Harbour to some of its underlying investors rather than a sale of shares.
Further, it said that EIG is now entitled to only one shareholder-nominated director on the Harbour board. Nonetheless, the board requests for the EIG-nominated directors, R Blair Thomas and Steve Farris, to remain on the board in light of their ‘extensive’ experience and valuable contributions.
Brent oil was quoted at $106.00 a barrel at the equities close, up from $105.66 at the close Thursday.
In the FTSE 250, Marks & Spencer lost 3.0% after Goldman Sachs downgraded the high street stalwart to ‘sell’ from ‘neutral’.
The pound was quoted at $1.2040 at the London equities close, up from $1.2002 at the close Thursday.
On the political front, former UK chancellor Rishi Sunak, whose resignation from Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s cabinet helped spark a mass exodus of other ministers, became the first high-profile MP to declare his candidacy to become the party’s next leader.
‘Let’s restore trust, rebuild the economy and reunite the country,’ the former finance minister said, presenting a slick video about his life story to launch the campaign on social media.
The euro stood at $1.0185 at the European equities close, up from $1.0172 late Thursday. The common currency for the euro area fell to an intraday low of $1.0072 in early trade - its lowest level since late 2002.
The single currency has been teetering towards parity against the dollar on growing concerns Russia may cut off gas supply to Europe and plunge the region into recession, which in turn would make it more difficult for the ECB to tighten monetary policy.
Against the yen, the dollar was trading at JP¥135.88, down from JP¥135.91 late Thursday.
Japan’s former prime minister Shinzo Abe was assassinated on Friday by a gunman who opened fire at close range as the hugely influential politician delivered a campaign speech.
The murder of the 67-year-old, who had been Japan’s longest-serving leader, stunned the nation and prompted an international outpouring of grief and condemnation.
It was all the more shocking given Japan’s strict gun laws and low rates of violent crime, with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida describing the killing as a ‘barbaric act’ that was ‘absolutely unforgivable’.
Abe, who held office in 2006 for one year and again from 2012 to 2020, was shot shortly before noon while campaigning in the western region of Nara ahead of weekend upper house elections.
Stocks in New York were higher at the London equities close. The DJIA was up 0.1%, the S&P 500 index up 0.2% and the Nasdaq Composite up 0.1%.
Twitter dropped 3.8% following a report from the Washington Post that Elon Musk’s $44 billion deal to buy the social media giant was in jeopardy.
Gold stood at $1,744.88 an ounce at the London equities close, firm against $1,742.44 late Thursday.
The economic events calendar on Monday has a trading statement from housebuilder MJ Gleeson.
The UK corporate calendar on Monday has the US employment trends index at 1500 BST.
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