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Summary
- UK shares struggled with FTSE 100 failing to catch the regional momentum
- A mixed opening action was witnessed on Wall Street on Friday
- Record-breaking uptick in UK retail sales wasn’t enough to revive optimism
UK shares struggled in the late trades on Friday, 21 May, with the benchmark FTSE 100 failing to catch the regional momentum as most of the European shares registered big gains. London equities traded range bound, largely around the respective previous closing marks, even with an upbeat Wall Street.
Though a mixed action was witnessed on Wall Street with the Dow Industrials rising 0.80 per cent to 34,360.51, slightly approaching the record highs, while the tech-leader Nasdaq Composite hovered marginally lower just beneath its last close. On the other hand, the wider share indicator S&P 500 upsurge 0.45 per cent to 4,177.86.
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According to the latest data available with the London Stock Exchange, the FTSE 100 was trading at 7,021.32 in the late afternoon session, up 0.02 per cent from the previous close of 7,019.79.
FTSE 100 chart (21 May)
(Source: EODHD/Others, Thomson Reuters)
All other broader benchmarks including the mid-caps favourite FTSE 250 and larger barometers FTSE 350 and FTSE All-Share oscillated in a largely similar fashion.
Surprisingly, the record-breaking uptick in the UK retail sales and the meaningful upswing in the consumer confidence was not enough to bolster the investors’ optimism as all the market capitalisation based indices floated on LSE remained largely changed.
Also Read | UK retail sales see record jump in April 2021 as consumers flock for shopping
Of late, this has been the first time when the shares were left unfazed with the positive macroeconomic development.
Furthermore, UK stocks traded differently unlike the regional equity surge in European markets. Across the board, DAX of Germany rose 0.48 per cent, to 15,444.69, CAC 40 of Euronext Paris gained 0.77 per cent, to 6,392.34, IBEX 35 of Spain jumped 0.87 per cent, to 9,204, Italy’s FTSE MIB soared 1.04 per cent, 24,959.05, whereas SMI of Switzerland added 0.64 per cent, 11,223.71.
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Next week is likely to remain uncertain for global equities as the United States will be revealing some of the crucial data points. The US Census Bureau, US Department of Labor and the US Bureau of Economic Analysis will be announcing the new home sales, rise in orders of durable goods, number of Amercans seeking unemployment benefits, growth rate of personal income and spending of US citizens.
