FTSE 100: Wall Street mixed as London closes higher

Wall Street is mixed but the FTSE secured marginal gains (Erik Pendzich)

The FTSE (^FTSE) and European stocks closed slightly higher on Wednesday, after a strong session on Tuesday, as official figures showed Britain’s economy expanded in January.

• London’s benchmark index rose 0.4% to finish at 7,777 points

• Germany's DAX (^GDAXI) finished just above the flatline and the CAC (^FCHI) in Paris climbed 0.7%

• The pan-European STOXX 600 (^STOXX) rose 0.2% as heavyweights Adidas and Zara reported earnings

• The UK's economy grew by 0.2% in January, compared to a 0.1% contraction in December, in a sign the country is moving past its recession.

• Wall Street was little changed early in the session after the S&P 500 wrapped up another all-time high

Follow along for live updates throughout the day:

LIVE COVERAGE IS OVER17 updates

• Featured

  Wed, March 13, 2024 at 11:06 AM EDT

  Pedro Goncalves

  Jeremy Hunt takes questions from MPs

  

  Chancellor Jeremy Hunt ((Parliament.Tv))

  Jeremy Hunt was questioned on the spring budget after the Conservatives' fiscal announcement last week.

  He said that it will be “a long and difficult journey” to get the national debt falling as he was asked about his stated objective of getting debt falling as a percentage of GDP.

  "I think it's going to be a long and difficult journey, but I think it's right that we try," Hunt told parliament's Treasury Committee.

  The chancellor added that his ambition to abolish employees’ national insurance contributions will not happen in the next Parliament.

Wed, March 13, 2024 at 12:29 PM EDT, Pedro Goncalves

That is all from us but follow our US team for the latest moving markets across the pond.

Hope you will join us again tomorrow to get the latest on stocks.

Thanks,

PHG

UK seals trade co-operation agreement with Texas

Wed, March 13, 2024 at 12:01 PM EDT, Pedro Goncalves

The UK has signed an agreement on closer trade co-operation with Texas as the British government continues to pursue state-level deals in the absence of a wider free trade agreement with the US.

Trade secretary Kemi Badenoch and Texas governor Greg Abbott formally signed the agreement in Westminster on Wednesday.

Over 500 households freed from 'problematic' ground rent clauses

Wed, March 13, 2024 at 11:57 AM EDT, Pedro Goncalves

Over 500 households will be freed from "problematic" leaseholds that doubled their ground rent every ten to fifteen years, according to the UK competition watchdog

The Competition and Markets Autorithy (CMA) announced that these households, whose homes are owned by eight different companies, will have their ground rent returned to the original amount when they first bought their homes. This means that since 2019, more than 21,000 families have been released from what the Competition and Markets Authority calls "problematic leasehold issues".

Wall Street mixed with investors on data watch

Wed, March 13, 2024 at 11:08 AM EDT, Pedro Goncalves

US stocks were little changed at the open on Wednesday, my colleague Karen Friar writes, after the S&P 500 wrapped up another all-time high, as investors shrugged off sticky inflation data to focus on fresh economic updates ahead.

The S&P 500 (^GSPC) and Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) were narrowly higher at the open on the heels of Tuesday's sharp across-the-board gains. The Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) was off about 0.2%.

The Gym Group planning to open 50 new sites over three years

Wed, March 13, 2024 at 10:24 AM EDT, Pedro Goncalves

The Gym Group has said it plans to open around 50 new sites over the next three years as it accelerates its expansion across the UK.

It came as the low-cost gym operator said it was well placed to benefit from the challenging economic backdrop, with some customers moving to cheaper gym operators.

The company, which currently runs 233 gyms across the UK, revealed that revenues grew by 18% to £204 million for 2023, compared with the previous year.

This was supported in a rise in gym members, with average membership numbers up 8% for the year.

It had around 850,000 members across the UK at the end of the year.

Trending tickers: Metro Bank, Adidas, BP and ASML

Wed, March 13, 2024 at 8:33 AM EDT, Pedro Goncalves

Metro Bank (MTRO.L)

Metro Bank is cutting 1,000 jobs and putting an end to its trademark seven-day branch model as the lender plots another £30m ($38.36m) of cuts this year.

Adidas (ADS.DE)

Adidas has posted its first loss in more than 30 years as bosses try to turn the brand following the fallout from the end of its deal with controversial rapper Kanye West.

BP (BP.L)

BP has suspended its £2bn joint bid with the UAE’s state-owned oil company to buy a 50% of Israeli gas company NewMed.

ASML (ASML)

Dutch semiconductor equipment maker ASML recent threat to leave The Netherlands has revealed that other major companies have also considered moving as the country’s business climate deteriorates.

Read the full story here

Zara owner Inditex climbs to all-time high as 2023 sales jump 10%

Wed, March 13, 2024 at 7:38 AM EDT, Pedro Goncalves

Zara owner Inditex reveals record annual sales and surging profits (Reuters / Reuters)

Shares in Inditex have surged after the Zara owner reported record annual sales and strong demand for its new spring and summer fashion collections.

The fashion retail giant, which also owns brands including Bershka and Pull & Bear, told investors its financial performance in the last year had been “excellent”.

It reported a 10.4% jump in sales to €35.9bn (£30.7bn) in 2023, compared with €32.6bn (£27.9bn the previous year. At fixed exchange rates, sales surged by 14.1%.

Spring and summer fashion collections have been very well received by customers, with sales off to a strong start in recent weeks, it added.

Direct Line rejects £3.11bn proposal from Ageas

Wed, March 13, 2024 at 7:29 AM EDT, Pedro Goncalves

Insurer Direct Line has seen shares drop after revealing it rebuffed a higher takeover approach from Belgium-based rival Ageas.

Shares in Direct Line fell as it said the group had rejected a second cash-and-shares proposed bid from Ageas that was made on March 9, worth 237p a share – valuing the firm at around £3.11bn.

It marks a 3% increase on the initial 231p-a-share approach made at the end of last month, worth around £3.1bn.

You can keep tabs on market moving stocks and personalise the info you want to get by using Yahoo Finance screeners.

Mortgage rates are rising

Wed, March 13, 2024 at 6:46 AM EDT, Pedro Goncalves

Mortgage rates are climbing (coldsnowstorm via Getty Images)

Rightmove’s weekly mortgage tracker shows us that homeowners are paying more, with the average monthly payment now at £1,093.

• The average 5-year fixed mortgage rate is now 4.84%, up from 4.61% a year ago

• The average 2-year fixed mortgage rate is now 5.22%, up from 4.99% a year ago

• The average 85% LTV 5-year fixed mortgage rate is now 4.78%, up from 4.63% a year ago

• The average 60% LTV 5-year fixed mortgage rate is now 4.37%, up from 4.29% a year ago

• The average monthly mortgage payment on a typical first-time buyer type property when taking out an average five-year fixed, 85% LTV mortgage, is now £1,093 per month, up from £1,069 per month a year ago

Scammers impersonating FCA target pension pots

Wed, March 13, 2024 at 6:44 AM EDT, Pedro Goncalves

Fraudsters have been impersonating the UK financial watchdog to scam savers from their pensions pot.

Nikhil Rathi, chief executive of Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), said in a speech delivered at JP Morgan Pensions and Savings Symposium:

We have seen scammers contact consumers, posing as a firm or even the FCA, promising to help them release their pension before they are 55. These are in fact often frauds.

Our ScamSmart campaign aims to empower consumers by making it easy for them to check an investment or pension opportunity.

Following our intervention on financial promotions, we have also seen a withdrawal or change to more than 10,000 potentially misleading advertisements in the last year, up 17% on the previous year.

We are alert to the fact that when pension dashboards go live, risks of scams may increase, and we want to work with you on measures to mitigate those risks.

Is recession already in the rear-view mirror? AJ Bell is not so sure

Wed, March 13, 2024 at 4:52 AM EDT, Pedro Goncalves

Danni Hewson, AJ Bell head of financial analysis, is not as optimistic as others that the UK economy is turning a corner. He said:

“There’s been lots of talk about ‘green shoots’ and an economy that’s turning a corner, and January’s GDP figures delivered growth primarily thanks to a rebound from the retail sector as cash-strapped Brits rushed to take advantage of post-Christmas sales. However, we won’t know officially until May whether that means the recession the country dipped into at the end of last year is already in the rear-view mirror.

“But being serious, 0.2% is hardly a number to get excited about, it’s just a continuation of the trend that we’ve seen over the past couple of years. An economy bumping along the bottom, flatlining and stagnating.

“Psychologically shedding the label of recession is important because it helps foster confidence. But the biggest shot of adrenaline is likely to come once the Bank of England finally delivers the much-anticipated interest rate cut that markets are expecting in the summer.

“It’s that optimism which pushed the FTSE 100 up to a nine-month high yesterday and is being mirrored over on the other side of the Atlantic despite concerns about sticky inflation.

“Households and businesses are hurting after 14 hikes pushed rates up to a 15-year high, with the latest update on mortgage arrears showing a spike of 50%.

“Confidence is crucial. It gets builders building, makers making and sellers selling. And those green shoots are visible, they just need a bit of fair weather to bed in.”

Oil prices rise over Middle East tensions

Wed, March 13, 2024 at 4:50 AM EDT, Pedro Goncalves

Oil prices continue to rise (NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Oil has climbed again as tension in the Middle East and expectations of strong global demand for crudes pushed up prices.

West Texas Intermediate (CL=F) rose 03% and was trading at $77 per barrel. Brent (BZ=F) crude gained 0.3% to $82 per barrel.

Asia overnight

Wed, March 13, 2024 at 4:44 AM EDT, Pedro Goncalves

In Asia, the Hang Seng (^HSI) in Hong Kong tumbled 0.1% to 16,082 while the Shanghai Composite (000001.SS) lost 0.4% to 3,043 points. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 (^N225) also finished in the red, slipping 0.6% to 38,695 points.

Wall Street overnight: S&P 500 hits new record high as investors shrug off sticky inflation data

Wed, March 13, 2024 at 4:35 AM EDT, Pedro Goncalves

US stocks notched gains across the board on Tuesday, my colleague Karen Friar writes, after key inflation data came in hotter than expected to help set expectations for the timing of a Federal Reserve interest-rate cut.

The S&P 500 (^GSPC) rose about 1.2% to close at a new record high, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) climbed roughly 1.5% after two days of losses, led by chip giant Nvidia's 7% gain (NVDA). The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) ticked up about 0.6%.

Metro Bank to cut 1,000 jobs by mid-April

Wed, March 13, 2024 at 4:33 AM EDT, Pedro Goncalves

High street lender Metro Bank has confirmed around 1,000 jobs will go by mid-April under ongoing plans to slash costs and revealed aims for further savings over the year ahead.

The troubled group said previously announced plans to annual cut costs by £50m was seeing it shed around 22% of its 4,266-strong workforce – higher than the originally expected 20%.

It said it was looking to cut another £30m by the end of 2024.

Details of the overhaul came as it reported a £16.9m underlying loss for 2023, narrowed from losses of £50.6m in 2022.

On a statutory basis, the group said it returned to profit for the first time since 2018, with pre-tax profits of £30.5 million.

UK economy returns to growth in January

Wed, March 13, 2024 at 4:32 AM EDT, Pedro Goncalves

The UK economy returned to growth at the start of the year, according to official figures, raising hopes that the country could be on its way out of a shallow recession.

Gross domestic product (GDP) is estimated to have risen by 0.2% in January, following a decline of 0.1% in December, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.

A strong month for retail sales helped drive growth in January, with consumers making the most of post-Christmas sales and spending more in supermarkets.

Read the full story here

Watch: Fed rate cuts likely coming after June – strategist

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