The FTSE 100 touched the intraday high mark of 7,948.24 and ended at 7,911.15, a gain of 25.98 points. The FTSE 250 fell 0.13% to 20,277.34.
UK companies rejoiced in the news from the Bank of England’s governor, Andrew Bailey, about “powerful downward forces” on inflation. The central bank expects the inflation number to come down below 5% by the end of 2023.
Susannah Streeter, an analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, commented that “The FTSE 100 powered up in early trade, gaining more ground back towards the record high, as winds of worry over how far interest rates will go are blown away again.”
Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said, “At the current rate, we could see the FTSE 100 break through the 8,000 level by early next week, which would represent a long-overdue victory for the UK stock market.”
Moving on to the housing market, prices continue on a downward trajectory across the UK in January 2023. According to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), new buyer inquiries fell for the ninth consecutive time, and the house price balance was the lowest since April 2009.
Topping the list of the FTSE 100 gainers was Standard Chartered (GB:STAN), with an 11.85% gain, after Bloomberg reported that First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) is still exploring options for a potential takeover of the bank.
Next on the list was AstraZeneca Plc (GB:AZN) with a gain of 4.35%, as the company’s earnings surpassed analysts’ estimates.
Among the losers, Entain Plc (GB:ENT) fell by 13.6% after MGM Resorts (GB:OJWC) ended the bidding speculation to take over the company.
British American Tobacco Plc (GB:BATS) was down by 2.4% after it announced preliminary numbers for the year 2022. The company expects tobacco industry volumes to decline by 2%, but it remains on track to hit £5 billion in revenues by 2025.
