London close: Stocks gain as pound drops versus dollar on retail sales; ECB digested

London stocks ended in the black on Thursday, underpinned by a weaker pound versus the dollar as investors digested disappointed retail sales data, although sterling made gains against the euro after the European Central Bank said it will cut the size of its asset purchases but extend the programme until next September.

The FTSE 100 closed up 0.5% at 7,486.50, while the pound was down 0.7% against the dollar at 1.3176 after figures from the Confederation of British Industry earlier showed the lowest year-on-year sales performance this month since 2009.

Against the euro, however, the pound was trading up.4% to 1.1264 after the European Central bank said it will cut the size of its asset purchases but extend the programme until next September.

The ECB stood pat on interest rates, as expected, and announced its intention to have the pace of asset purchases to €30bn a month as of January 2018. In addition, the central bank extended the programme for a further nine months from that date “or beyond, if necessary and in any case until the Governing Council sees €30bn as a sustained adjustment in the path of inflation consistent with its inflation aim”.

If necessary, the ECB also said it stood ready to increase the size of the APP again.

Spreadex analyst Connor Campbell said: “It was clear from the start of Draghi’s press conference that he was intent on maintaining his typically dovish tone. He claimed the ECB had ‘recalibrated’, not tapered, its monetary policy; argued that the Eurozone’s inflation outlook is way behind’ the US when asked about the Fed’s more aggressive tightening; and, most damningly for the euro, stated that the quantitative easing programme is still ‘open-ended’.”

Investors were also keeping a watchful eye on Spain, as reports filtered through that Catalonia may hold regional elections on 20 December, potentially delaying a declaration of independence.

On the corporate front, British American Tobacco gained as analysts from the likes of JPMorgan Cazenove and Citi waxed lyrical after the group's capital markets day, where guidance on 'next generation' products was bumped up.

Miners, led by Rio Tinto and Anglo American, were bouncing back after falls the previous day, with metal price fluctuations seen as the driver, copper in particular.

Consumer goods giant Unilever racked up gains after saying its offer to buy back the bulk of its Dutch preference shares for around €450m had been declared unconditional.

Information and analytics company Relx edged higher after it reported continued underlying revenue growth in the first nine months of 2017 and reaffirmed its outlook for the full year.

National Express chugged to a two-month high as it lifted pre-tax profit 12% in the third quarter.

Bodycote spiked as it reported a 17% jump in third-quarter revenue and reaffirmed its outlook for the year before profit taking kicked in with the shares in a channel around 18-year highs .

Kaz Minerals rose after lifting its copper and gold guidance, while Acacia Mining was higher after parent Barrick Gold gave a few more details about its pact with the government of Tanzania to try and lift the gold export ban.

Sirius Minerals was shooting higher as it announced an offtake agreement for its future fertiliser output.

On the other side of the coin, Barclays slumped after third-quarter profits came in lower than expected as its investment banking business faced difficult markets, only partly offset by an improvement in the UK bank and the consumer credit arm.

Barratt Developments, Ferguson, Galliford Try, ITV and William Hill all went ex-dividend.

Rare disease specialist Shire nudged down as it announced that the European Commission has approved a label extension granting a new indication for FIRAZYR (icatibant injection), broadening its use to adolescents and children aged two years and older, with hereditary angioedema (HAE) caused by C1-esterase-inhibitor (C1-INH) deficiency.

GlaxoSmithKline was down a day after its third-quarter numbers, with Credit Suisse lowering its estimates and cutting its target price to 1,600p from 1,725p.

Car dealership Inchcape was on the back foot despite posting a 15% rise in third-quarter revenue.

Fidessa was in the red after saying that constant currency revenue growth for 2017 is likely to be around the levels as the previous year, and that it is well placed to benefit from the opportunities that will arise in the market as a result of regulatory and structural change.

Redefine, the income-focussed real estate investment trust, fell after it posted a rise in its full-year profit but a drop in its dividend.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,486.50 0.53%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,163.38 0.45%
techMARK (TASX) 3,499.55 -0.06%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Unilever (ULVR) 4,225.00p 3.34%
Relx plc (REL) 1,735.00p 3.03%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 4,966.00p 2.53%
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 4,131.00p 2.08%
Pearson (PSON) 719.50p 2.06%
CRH (CRH) 2,857.00p 2.04%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,565.50p 1.97%
3i Group (III) 961.50p 1.96%
Standard Life Aberdeen (SLA) 439.20p 1.95%
Bunzl (BNZL) 2,283.00p 1.87%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Barclays (BARC) 182.40p -7.41%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 667.50p -4.44%
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,380.00p -3.43%
Shire Plc (SHP) 3,518.00p -2.20%
NMC Health (NMC) 2,885.00p -1.70%
British Land Company (BLND) 595.00p -1.49%
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,329.00p -1.26%
Old Mutual (OML) 188.10p -1.21%
ITV (ITV) 168.30p -1.06%
Convatec Group (CTEC) 205.20p -0.92%

FTSE 250 - Risers

National Express Group (NEX) 364.40p 6.30%
Sirius Minerals (SXX) 27.82p 5.70%
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 357.80p 4.74%
Rank Group (RNK) 231.50p 4.42%
IP Group (IPO) 146.60p 3.97%
Drax Group (DRX) 285.40p 3.48%
Acacia Mining (ACA) 190.30p 3.09%
Lancashire Holdings Limited (LRE) 711.00p 3.04%
Renishaw (RSW) 4,996.00p 2.93%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 227.00p 2.67%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Galliford Try (GFRD) 1,270.00p -4.65%
Inchcape (INCH) 777.50p -3.48%
Spire Healthcare Group (SPI) 293.00p -3.17%
McCarthy & Stone (MCS) 156.00p -2.44%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 280.40p -2.23%
Provident Financial (PFG) 882.50p -2.22%
Dixons Carphone (DC.) 178.20p -2.14%
Auto Trader Group (AUTO) 352.60p -1.95%
NewRiver REIT (NRR) 331.30p -1.81%
OneSavings Bank (OSB) 408.50p -1.61%