Investment accounts
Adult accounts
Child accounts
Choosing Fidelity
Choosing Fidelity
Why invest with us Current offers Fees and charges Open an account Transfer investments
Financial advice & support
Fidelity’s Services
Fidelity’s Services
Financial advice Retirement Wealth Management Investor Centre (London) Bereavement
Guidance and tools
Guidance and tools
Choosing investments Choosing accounts ISA calculator Retirement calculators
Share dealing
Choose your shares
Tools and information
Tools and information
Share prices and markets Chart and compare shares Stock market news Shareholder perks
Pensions & retirement
Pensions, tax & tools
Saving for retirement
Approaching / In retirement
Approaching / In retirement
Speak to a specialist Creating a retirement plan Taking tax-free cash Pension drawdown Annuities Investing in retirement Investment Pathways
London close: FTSE pares gains to end flat
(Sharecast News) - London stocks ended flat on Friday, unable to hold on to earlier gains despite reassuring comments from a Fed official and encouraging Chinese and UK data. The FTSE 100 closed unchanged at 7,947.11, having opened in the black and spent most of the day there as investors welcomed comments from Atlanta Federal Reserve President Raphael Bostic, who said on Thursday that he was in favour of "slow and steady" quarter-point US rate increases to limit risk to the economy.
Neil Wilson, chief market analyst at Finalto said: "This seemed to placate markets somewhat after being on a relentless 'higher for longer' train for the last few days."
The latest data out of China also helped to underpin the mood as it showed that activity in the services sector picked up more than expected in February amid a recovery in demand.
The Caixin services purchasing managers' index rose to 55.0 from 52.9 in January. This was above consensus expectations for a reading of 54.5 and comfortably above the 50.0 mark that separates contraction from expansion.
Wilson said: "The Chinese recovery is important...a smart exit from Covid and surge in demand from Chinese consumers could be all that's needed to get the global economy out of its funk".
On home shores, a survey showed the service sector returned to growth in February as business activity expanded at the fastest pace since June 2022.
The S&P Global/CIPS services purchasing managers' index rose to 53.5 from 48.7 in January, coming in above the 50.0 mark that separates contraction from expansion for the first time in six months. The reading was above the initial estimate of 53.3.
The composite PMI, which measures activity in services and manufacturing, ticked up to 53.1 in February from 48.5 the month before. This was above the initial estimate of 53.0.
In the US, the Institute for Supply Management's services PMI for February came in at 55.1%, down a touch from 55.2% the previous month but above consensus expectations of 54.5%. The survey showed that business activity, new orders and employment rose last month.
Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG, said: "This afternoon has seen yet another strong piece of data, this time in the form of the ISM services PMI for the US, but this time around the mood appears to have shifted.
"Recent declines in equities, even the modest ones seen in Europe, appear to have removed some of the hesitancy among investors about putting more money into stocks, having trimmed valuations a touch. This combines with some less hawkish commentary from the Atlanta Fed chair and hopes that China's parliament will lay out a solid growth target next week."
In equity markets, miners rallied as metals prices rose on the back of the Chinese services data, with Antofagasta, Glencore and Rio Tinto all up.
Persimmon was the top gainer on the FTSE 100, however, having tumbled earlier in the week after a profit warning.
Airlines flew higher after solid received results from Lufthansa, with IAG, Wizz Air and easyJet all up. Cruise operator Carnival also advanced.
On the downside, heavily-weighted BP and Shell were down but off earlier lows, as oil prices slid after the Wall Street Journal reported that the United Arab Emirates is considering leaving the Opec cartel of oil producing countries.
Educational publisher Pearson fell despite reporting a better-than-expected rise in annual profits driven by revenue growth and cost savings and saying it would grow sales by low to mid-single digits this year.
Property portal Rightmove lost ground after it posted a rise in full-year operating profit, pointing to "resilient traffic despite a significantly less frenetic property market than 2021". In the year to the end of December 2022, operating profit was up 7% at £241.3m, with revenues 9% higher at £332.6m.
Rightmove said a total of 16.3bn minutes were spent on the platform during the year, down from 18.3bn in 2021 but still 34% higher than the pre-pandemic record of 2019.
IMI slipped even after the engineering group reported a rise in full-year profits and revenue and hiked its dividend as it said all three divisions had achieved organic revenue growth.
In broker note action, Admiral was knocked lower by a downgrade to 'neutral' from 'buy' at Citi, while Hunting slumped after a downgrade to 'hold' from 'buy' at Berenberg.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,947.11 0.04% FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,937.55 0.43% techMARK (TASX) 4,643.59 0.13%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Persimmon (PSN) 1,290.00p 4.54% Ocado Group (OCDO) 550.20p 4.48% Legal & General Group (LGEN) 263.90p 3.29% Barratt Developments (BDEV) 447.90p 2.75% Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,664.00p 2.65% Severn Trent (SVT) 2,750.00p 2.46% Ashtead Group (AHT) 5,722.00p 2.40% BT Group (BT.A) 144.85p 2.37% Glencore (GLEN) 523.00p 2.35% International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 154.70p 2.29%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Pearson (PSON) 888.00p -3.75% Frasers Group (FRAS) 778.50p -2.20% Bunzl (BNZL) 2,939.00p -2.20% Hiscox Limited (DI) (HSX) 1,097.00p -2.05% Admiral Group (ADM) 2,111.00p -1.86% Land Securities Group (LAND) 661.40p -1.40% BAE Systems (BA.) 908.00p -1.26% Burberry Group (BRBY) 2,498.00p -1.11% Rightmove (RMV) 557.80p -1.06% BP (BP.) 555.30p -1.05%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 239.00p 9.38% Pennon Group (PNN) 857.50p 6.52% ASOS (ASC) 925.00p 6.14% Carnival (CCL) 821.20p 5.72% International Distributions Services (IDS) 246.60p 5.07% Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 2,865.00p 4.91% easyJet (EZJ) 505.00p 4.19% Watches of Switzerland Group (WOSG) 818.50p 3.15% AJ Bell (AJB) 335.20p 3.14% W.A.G Payment Solutions (WPS) 82.50p 3.12%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Hunting (HTG) 282.00p -7.69% Coats Group (COA) 74.40p -5.82% Baltic Classifieds Group (BCG) 155.20p -5.25% Just Group (JUST) 79.85p -5.17% Apax Global Alpha Limited (APAX) 177.40p -4.11% Bakkavor Group (BAKK) 107.00p -3.08% Vietnam Enterprise Investments (DI) (VEIL) 554.00p -2.64% Oxford Instruments (OXIG) 2,565.00p -2.29% Mitie Group (MTO) 79.40p -2.22% TBC Bank Group (TBCG) 2,465.00p -2.18%
Share this article
Related Sharecast Articles
Important information: This information is not a personal recommendation for any particular investment. If you are unsure about the suitability of an investment you should speak to one of Fidelity’s advisers or an authorised financial adviser of your choice. When you are thinking about investing in shares, it’s generally a good idea to consider holding them alongside other investments in a diversified portfolio of assets. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future returns.
Award-winning online share dealing
Search, compare and select from thousands of shares.
Expert insights into investing your money
Our team of experts explore the world of share dealing.
Policies and important information
Accessibility | Conflicts of interest statement | Consumer Duty Target Market | Consumer Duty Value Assessment Statement | Cookie policy | Diversity, Equity & Inclusion | Doing Business with Fidelity | Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Reports | Investing in Fidelity funds | Legal information | Modern slavery | Mutual respect policy | Privacy statement | Remuneration policy | Staying secure | Statutory and Regulatory disclosures | Whistleblowing policy
Please remember that past performance is not necessarily a guide to future performance, the performance of investments is not guaranteed, and the value of your investments can go down as well as up, so you may get back less than you invest. When investments have particular tax features, these will depend on your personal circumstances and tax rules may change in the future. This website does not contain any personal recommendations for a particular course of action, service or product. You should regularly review your investment objectives and choices and, if you are unsure whether an investment is suitable for you, you should contact an authorised financial adviser. Before opening an account, please read the ‘Doing Business with Fidelity’ document which incorporates our client terms. Prior to investing into a fund, please read the relevant key information document which contains important information about the fund.
This website is issued by Financial Administration Services Limited, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) (FCA Register number 122169) and registered in England and Wales under company number 1629709 whose registered address is Beech Gate, Millfield Lane, Lower Kingswood, Tadworth, Surrey, KT20 6RP.