AUS
NZ
UK
CA
USA
FRA
GER
ESP
ITA
NLD
PRT
SWE
GRC
IND
POL
BRA
ZAF
RUS
CHN
UAE
.jpg)
Copyright © 2021 Kalkine Media Pty Ltd.
Summary
- At around 1220 GMT, the FTSE 100 traded 0.31 per cent higher at 6,671.69.
- Continuous drop in house prices seemingly aided share markets, average house prices dropped 0.1 per cent in February from January.
FTSE 100 regained momentum in the mid-morning deals as the index reversed the early losses after the Great Britain pound (GBP) slipped below 1.38 against the United States dollar (USD). London equities seemingly defied the choppy trade in the major European markets with most of the leading stock indices hovering in the negative region, while a couple of them rose marginally.
Germany’s DAX shed 0.54 per cent, France’s CAC 40 fell 0.26 per cent, Switzerland’s SMI lost 0.57 per cent, whereas Spain’s IBEX 35 and Italy’s FTSE MIB oscillated in positive territory with gains of not more than 0.1 per cent.
The futures tied to the Dow Industrials rose 0.16 per cent to 30,926, indicating a tad higher opening of Wall Street later today, also bolstered the domestic equity market sentiments.
Equities gain as pound tumbles
At around 1220 GMT, the FTSE 100 traded 0.31 per cent higher at 6,671.69, from the previous close of 6,650.88. Other broader benchmarks followed suit, barring the mid-cap heavy FTSE 250, which hovered marginally lower. Both FTSE 350 and FTSE All-Share shuttled higher with a gain of more than 0.20 per cent, respectively.
On the other hand, the GBP vs USD pair traded at 1.3830, down 0.46 per cent from the last close of 1.3894. During the session so far, the currency pair has moved in a range of 1.3789 and 1.3907, at the interbank foreign exchange market. The Bank of England had fixed a reference exchange rate of 1.3991 USD and 1.1620 EUR against a unit of sterling on 4 March.
Stabilising house prices
Meanwhile, the average house prices in the UK continued to stabilise. The house prices index released by Halifax, one of the leading mortgage lenders of the UK, indicated the consecutive drop in the average house prices on a month-on-month basis.
The report of continuous drop in the house prices seemed to have aided the growth in the share markets as the headline FTSE 100 rebounded quickly from the negative to positive in quick successions after the release.
Earlier last year, the average house prices in England registered fresh multi-year highs on the back of ballooning demand as people intended to move to bigger homes following the work from home regime and most of the family members staying back at the home.
A considerable part of the rise in average house prices was due to the relaxation of stamp duty. The moderation measure in the form of stamp duty cut has now been extended to the end of June 2021.
The average house prices dropped 0.1 per cent in February from January but marked an increase of 5.2 per cent as compared to the average prices in the same month, a year earlier, the Halifax house price index showed. This has been the third straight month in which the house prices have decreased from the previous 30-day period.
