London close: Stocks gain on US data, Covid-19 vaccine news

London stocks edged higher on Wednesday boosted by positive headlines around US-China trade and the US economy.

According to Bloomberg, China was set to significantly boost purchases of US soybeans while data showing an 11.2% month-on-month rebound for July in durable goods orders in the States pointed to a 'V-shaped' recovery for durable goods, Barclays Research said.

"US durable goods orders hit their highest level since February last month, marking the third consecutive monthly rise," said IG chief market analyst Chris Beauchamp.

"This chimes with the expectation that Q3 will show a healthy rebound across the board for most economies, as the overstretched elastic band snaps back from the dire Q2 figures."

The FTSE 100 edged up 0.14% to 6,045.60, despite the drag from a 0.49% jump in the value of the pound against the Greenback to 1.3217.

Beauchamp also noted positive news out of Moderna regarding the ability of its Covid-19 vaccine to generate antibodies among elderly patients as a reason for Wednesday's stockmarket gains.

Nonetheless, some investors were cautious ahead of a potentially key speech by US Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell at the Jackson Hole central banking symposium this week.

The symposium is due take place virtually on Thursday.

In equity markets, Russian precious metals miner Polymetal was trading lower even as it reported sharply higher interim profits and doubled its dividend, driven by higher gold and silver prices.

Big US dollar earners such as British American Tobacco, Diageo, GlaxkSmithKline and AstraZeneca all ended lower too, weighed down by strength in Sterling.

Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group was also in the red as it said it was reviewing the future of its Bob's Stores business in the US after Nike decided to stop supplying the chain.

On the upside, software group Aveva was a high riser for the second day in a row after agreeing on Tuesday to buy US-based real-time data software maker OSIsoft for $5bn including debt.

Subprime lender Provident Financial surrendered early gains after swinging to a loss in the first half as revenue fell and bad debts increased but saying that business had picked up in the second half.

FTSE 250 transport operator Go-Ahead gained after securing a two-year bus contract extension in Singapore.

In broker note action, WHSmith was boosted by an initiation at ‘buy’ at Goldman Sachs. Car dealership Inchcape rallied after an upgrade to ‘overweight’ at JPMorgan Cazenove, while Signature Aviation was hit by a downgrade to ‘neutral’ by the same outfit.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 6,045.60 0.14%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 17,753.57 1.00%
techMARK (TASX) 3,849.25 0.53%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Aveva Group (AVV) 5,096.00p 9.69%
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 717.80p 3.82%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 105.60p 3.78%
Kingfisher (KGF) 281.20p 3.00%
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 2,441.00p 3.00%
Flutter Entertainment (FLTR) 12,580.00p 2.95%
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,252.50p 2.92%
M&G (MNG) 175.70p 2.69%
Sage Group (SGE) 758.60p 2.68%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,451.00p 2.54%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

ITV (ITV) 59.38p -2.08%
Diageo (DGE) 2,548.00p -2.00%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 253.00p -1.63%
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 4,377.00p -1.60%
National Grid (NG.) 860.00p -1.53%
BP (BP.) 270.75p -1.44%
Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,502.50p -1.38%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 2,538.50p -1.23%
BAE Systems (BA.) 530.80p -1.19%
Vodafone Group (VOD) 114.24p -1.02%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Provident Financial (PFG) 234.00p 19.57%
WH Smith (SMWH) 1,128.00p 8.15%
William Hill (WMH) 171.20p 6.87%
Petropavlovsk (POG) 34.05p 6.24%
Inchcape (INCH) 508.50p 5.32%
Watches of Switzerland Group (WOSG) 336.00p 5.00%
Grafton Group Ut (GFTU) 746.50p 4.99%
Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 576.20p 4.89%
Travis Perkins (TPK) 1,259.00p 4.57%
Dixons Carphone (DC.) 93.20p 4.48%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

PPHE Hotel Group Ltd (PPH) 1,065.00p -4.05%
Signature Aviation (SIG) 259.40p -3.17%
Network International Holdings (NETW) 390.00p -3.08%
Energean (ENOG) 572.10p -2.79%
Equiniti Group (EQN) 114.00p -2.73%
Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 163.60p -2.56%
Ascential (ASCL) 300.20p -2.21%
Centrica (CNA) 43.71p -2.14%
Meggitt (MGGT) 279.40p -2.07%
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 56.00p -1.58%