LONDON MARKETS: FTSE 100 Ends At Fresh Record As Wm. Morrison Leads Grocers
09 Gennaio 2018 - 6:29PM
Dow Jones News
By Carla Mozee and Victor Reklaitis, MarketWatch
Grocer 'broke the Debenhams-then-Mothercare double whammy of
truly terrible post-Christmas updates'
U.K. stocks closed higher Tuesday, with the blue-chip index
setting another record as Wm. Morrison Supermarkets PLC helped lead
gains in retail shares following its upbeat Christmas sales
update.
What the market is doing: The FTSE 100 index rose 0.5% to end at
7,731.02, topping a prior all-time closing high notched last week
and erasing Monday's drop of 0.4%
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ftse-100-eases-back-from-record-as-retailers-home-builders-fall-2018-01-08).
The pound traded at $1.3516, down from $1.3568 late Monday in
New York.
Read:These 5 charts are all 'flashing green' for more U.K. stock
records
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/these-5-charts-are-all-flashing-green-for-more-uk-stock-records-2018-01-08)
What's driving the market: The retail sector was in the
spotlight, as Morrison said comparable sales during the Christmas
season rose 2.8%.
"Helping the FTSE out was a giddy Morrison, which broke the
Debenhams-then-Mothercare double whammy of truly terrible
post-Christmas updates with a rather impressive statement of its
own," said Connor Campbell, financial analyst at Spreadex, in a
note.
Meanwhile, Kantar Worldpanel said British consumers spent GBP1
billion more during this year's Christmas period than last year's,
and that the Friday before Christmas in 2017 was the busiest
shopping day ever recorded even as stores offered the lowest level
of promotions since 2009.
Separately, the British Retail Consortium said U.K. retail sales
in December rose by 0.6% on a like-for-like basis from December
2016, when they had increased 1%. But comparable sales for nonfood
items fell 1.9% over the three months to December, the lowest since
March 2009.
Corporates: Wm. Morrison Supermarkets PLC shares (MRW.LN)
climbed 2.4% as the company said like-for-like sales, excluding
fuel, rose 2.8% during the Christmas period. The company, the first
U.K. supermarket operator to report its performance after the
Christmas season, also backed its fiscal 2018 guidance
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/morrisons-sales-rise-28-at-christmas-2018-01-09).
Morrison was one of the FTSE 100's big winners, with rival Marks
& Spencer Group PLC (MKS.LN) also gaining 2.4%. J Sainsbury PLC
(SBRY.LN) picked up 3.1%.
But Tesco PLC (TSCO.LN) was roughly flat even as Kantar said
Tesco was the fastest-growing of the big four supermarkets during
the 12 weeks to Dec. 31, as sales rose 3.1%. Tesco's third-quarter
and Christmas update is due Thursday.
British American Tobacco PLC shares (BATS.LN) closed up 0.7%
after the company said it expects a 6% increase in 2018 per-share
earnings
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/bat-expects-6-earnings-boost-from-us-tax-reform-2018-01-09),
stemming from U.S. tax cuts.
Home-builder Persimmon PLC (PSN.LN) said revenue rose 9% in 2017
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/persimmon-sees-2017-profit-ahead-of-views-2018-01-09)
to 3.42 billion pounds ($4.64 billion), and that it expects pretax
profit for the year to be modestly ahead of market consensus. But
its shares were down 1.2%.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 09, 2018 12:14 ET (17:14 GMT)
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