MARKET REPORT: Footsie and pound rally as Britain bounces back

The FTSE 100 posted a fourth week of gains as the economic mood brightened.

On another bullish day, the blue-chip index rose 0.4 percent, or 28.53 points, to 7871.91 and the FTSE 250 gained 0.9 percent, or 172.56 points, to 19242.69.

London’s top tier has spent all but one of the past 13 sessions in the black.

And as recession fears faded, the pound hit a ten-month high of $1.2546 before pulling back.

Sterling has gained five weeks in a row against the dollar in its best performance in more than two years. It represents a dramatic fortune since the fall when the pound fell to about $1.03 after the Liz Truss-Kwasi Kwarteng mini-Budget.

The pound has benefited from the dollar’s weakening as investors bet that US interest rates are at or near their peak.

Hopes that the Federal Reserve will end its program of aggressive rate hikes have also boosted global stock markets. With major banking stocks on Wall Street on the rise, in London Standard Chartered rose 4.4 per cent, or 27.4p, to 646p, HSBC rose 3 per cent, or 17p, to 584.3p and Barclays rose 3.2 per cent, or 4.94p , to 157.88p.

HSBC warned that sales of its French retail bank could collapse due to rising interest rates, increasing the amount the buyer, My Money Group, had to raise.

HSBC said it remains committed to the deal, but that the sale is now “less certain.”

William Hill owner 888 benefited after it unlocked a number of VIP accounts in the Middle East following an investigation into anti-money laundering lawsuits.

The Gibraltar-based gambling company said it has completed its internal investigation and put in place “robust policies and procedures” to take on new clients in the region. Shares rose 20.9 percent, or 12.9 pence, to 74.7 pence.

888 froze £50m in accounts in January after an internal review found best practices had not been followed in some areas, including its anti-money laundering processes.

VIP accounts generate significant revenue for gambling companies as high-rollers are encouraged to wager large amounts.

There was mixed news for Hays after it praised record quarterly earnings but warned of a slowdown in permanent hires.

The recruiting firm reported a like-for-like increase in fees of 5 percent for the three months ended March 31.

Performance was driven by the staffing and contracting division, the largest division accounting for 59 percent of group compensation, which outperformed the permanent hiring arm.

Germany was the company’s best-performing division, but revenues in the UK and Ireland, along with Australia and New Zealand, all slumped following declines in permanent staff. Shares rose 1.2 percent, or 1.4 pence, to 115.4 pence.

The owner of the UK’s largest hotel brand could be nabbed by a bidder with ‘deep pockets’, a City estate agent said.

Peel Hunt upgraded its rating on Whitbread, which is behind Premier Inn, from ‘add’ to ‘buy’ and raised the target price from 2850p to 4000p.

The investment bank praised the hotel operator’s recovery from the pandemic, saying its strategy “will deliver value over time.” But this brings the “potential for a bidder, with deep pockets, to realize Whitbread’s property value more quickly,” it added. Shares rose 2.3 percent, or 70 pence, to 3,086 pence.

Cutting costs boosted online electrical retailer AO World. Profit for the year to 31 March was around the top end of the £37.5m to £45m range it brought in at the end of February. This was the third improvement in the earnings forecast this year. It also said revenue was £1.13 billion.

Shares rose 11.8 percent, or 8 pence, to 75.65 pence yesterday.