A day can be such a short time in stock markets, can’t it? Early Monday, the FTSE 100 was a mass of deep red, with the index in a slump. Things eased off by close. And though most stocks did show losses, the Footsie ended the day down a relatively modest 0.8%.
Then on Tuesday, the top London index changed direction to end the day up 1% at 6,970 points. So over two days, the FTSE 100 has really gone nowhere at all. Business as usual, then, and no need to panic. Daily stock market movements don’t mean much to me, but it can be good to look deeper and see what individual stocks are doing.
International Consolidated Airlines, Monday’s runaway winner with a jump of 11%, continued its upward trajectory. The British Airways owner saw its shares put on a further 3.1% by close on Tuesday. Investors clearly feel better about the company’s balance sheet, after IAG told the Sunday Times that it does not plan any further rights issues.
The knock-on effect on the Rolls-Royce share price continued, with the aero engine maker up another 3.5%. Rolls-Royce shares are now up more than 35% since their 2021 low in July.
Monday’s biggest FTSE 100 loser, Prudential, headed back up Tuesday. On a day when Chinese markets were looking a bit shaky, Prudential shares had given up nearly 8% of their value after the insurance firm announced its Hong Kong listing plans. But now investors have had time to properly digest the news, Prudential has regained 2.9%.
H1 results
Kingfisher was in the news, revealing first-half results. The B&Q owner posted a 20% increase in sales in the six months to 31 July, with a 65% jump in adjusted EPS. Net debt dropped 34% in the period too, and the company was able to lift its interim dividend by a very nice 38%.
There’s a new £300m share buyback programme on the cards too. And Kingfisher now anticipates adjusted pre-tax profit for the full year of around £910m-£950m. Did all of this impress the market? Not a bit of it. The share price ended the day as the FTSE 100’s biggest loser, falling 4.9%. Fears of supply chain infrastructure appear to outweigh Kingfisher’s upbeat six months.
Compass Group shares dropped 2.2%, despite an upbeat trading update. Kingfisher and Compass were among the few fallers on Tuesday, with the news dominated by soaring energy prices. It’s perhaps not surprising, then, to see Royal Dutch Shell and BP showing positive progress. Shell finished with a 3.3% gain, with BP up 1.3%.
Biggest FTSE 100 winner
A late surge at gambling giant Entain overshadowed the rest of the day’s winners. Previously known as GVC Holdings, Entain’s brands include Coral, Ladbrokes, and bwin. According to CNBC, DraftKings is set to make a $20bn buyout bid for the UK firm. The offer, said to be largely in DraftKings shares but with some cash, comes after Entain had rejected an all-share offer from MGM Resorts earlier in the year. That bid had valued the company at $11bn.
At the time of writing, Entain has said nothing about the takeover claim. What happened to the Entain share price? Oh yes, it jumped 18% on the day.