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European markets finished in positive territory on Thursday, buoyed by the strong performance of London's FTSE 100 and encouraging news from the UK economy, which showed a notable rebound in the second quarter.
London's FTSE 100 and Other Indices Perform Well:
- The FTSE 100 (LSE:UKX) rose by 66.30 points, or 0.8%, to close at 8,347.35.
- The FTSE 250 (LSE:MCX) gained 141.87 points, or 0.7%, ending at 21,094.16.
- The AIM All-Share (LSE:AIM) was up 3.28 points, or 0.4%, finishing at 774.79.
- The Cboe UK 100 (CBOE:UKX) increased by 0.8% to 833.68.
- The Cboe UK 250 (CBOE:UKX250) also saw a rise of 0.8%, closing at 18,474.29.
- The Cboe Small Companies (CBOE:UKSM) edged up 0.4% to 16,869.67.
European and US Markets Follow Suit:
- The CAC 40 (Euronext: CAC) in Paris ended up 1.2%.
- The DAX 40 (Frankfurt: DAX) in Frankfurt closed 1.7% higher.
- In New York, at the London close, the DJIA (DJIA:DJI) was up 1.1%, the S&P 500 (S&P:SPX) increased by 1.4%, and the Nasdaq Composite (NASDAQ:IXIC) surged 2.0%.
US Economic Data Spurs Market Optimism:
- The US Census Bureau reported a 1.0% rise in retail sales for July, a significant improvement from a downwardly revised 0.2% decline in June, and exceeding economists’ forecasts of a 0.3% increase.
- On an annual basis, retail sales were up 2.7%.
- The Department of Labor reported a decrease in initial jobless claims by 7,000 to 227,000 for the week ending August 10, surpassing market expectations and indicating a resilient labor market.
Sector and Company Updates:
Admiral Group (LSE:ADM): Shares climbed 6.5% following a strong performance in UK motor insurance, with pretax profit rising 32% to £309.8 million and insurance revenue up 38% to £2.21 billion. Admiral also raised its interim dividend by 39%.
DCC plc (LSE:DCC): Shares increased by 2.2% after RBC Capital Markets upgraded its rating to ‘outperform’ from ‘sector perform’.
OSB Group plc (LSE:OSB): Shares fell 18% after lowering its full-year guidance due to increased competition in the mortgage market.
Rank Group plc (LSE:RNK): Shares rose 7.8% after the company reported a return to profitability, with a pretax profit of £15.5 million for the financial year ending June 30.
Accesso Technology plc (AIM:ACSO): Shares plummeted 27% after revising its full-year revenue expectations downward.
Commodities Update:
- Brent crude oil was quoted at $81.30 per barrel, up from $80.27 on Wednesday.
- Gold traded at $2,456.75 per ounce, slightly higher than $2,451.20 the previous day.
Looking ahead, the London corporate diary will see half-year results from Kingspan Group plc (ISE:KYG) on Friday. The economic calendar will include UK retail sales figures at 07:00 BST and eurozone trade data at 10:00 BST.
