The UK blue-chip index was up 2.38 points, or 0.1% at 7,448.06, well below the session peak of 7,491.74 but above the day’s low of 7,417.49
The FTSE 100 index ended slightly firmer on Thursday after a see-saw session as the Bank of England, as expected, hiked interest rates by 50 basis points. It was the biggest interest rate hike from the BoE in 27 years.
At the close, the UK blue-chip index was up 2.38 points, or 0.1% at 7,448.06, well below the session peak of 7,491.74 but above the day’s low of 7,417.49.
On Wall Street, around London’s close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 95 points, or 0.3% at 32,716, while the broader S&P 500 index and the tech-laden Nasdaq Composite both lost 0.3%.
Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG commented: It looks like this relief rally is beginning to run out of good news. After a solid earnings season so far, stocks are facing a period where the sheer number and also the profile of those stocks reporting are beginning to decline.
Fundamentally, the dip buying over the past month has been valuation-based, and with earnings estimates for coming quarters still heading lower stocks are rapidly running out of room for more gains. Recession concerns seem to be returning too, a point underlined by the Bank of England’s comments in its meeting today, he said.
He added: UK stocks have enjoyed a decent bounce off the lows, but Andrew Bailey and co are clearly worried about the economy, and now expect a recession and two years of negative income growth. The pound’s slump in the wake of today’s MPC decision underlines the caution investors have regarding the UK economy, and suggests that the pound’s miserable performance thus far in 2022 is unlikely to change for the time being.
