Investment platform Hargreaves Lansdown was the biggest blue-chip gainer after a positive performance during the most important period of the fiscal year.
It said new customers invested £1.7 billion in the three months to the end of June – 6 per cent more than the previous quarter.
That was also more than the £1.4 billion analysts had priced in.
The period fell at the end of the fiscal year on April 5, when customers tend to use up their ISA and SIPP credits.
Customers also deposited £800 million into their active savings accounts, up from £700 million the year before.
Stocks up: Hargreaves Lansdown said new customers invested £1.7bn in the three months to the end of June – up 6% on the previous quarter
And assets under administration of £134 billion were 2 percent higher than in the previous quarter and broadly in line with market expectations.
As in the previous quarter, 13,000 new customers were added.
Shore Capital analyst Ben Williams said: “We continue to view Hargreaves Lansdown as a cheap stock, with the nature of the new customer experience and the magnitude of planned cost savings being misunderstood by the market.”
The results came just days after the investment platform began looking for a chairman to succeed Deanna Oppenheimer.
She was criticized by co-founder Peter Hargreaves, who described her five-year tenure as a “disaster.”
It rose 8.8 percent, or 73.8 pence, to 914 pence.
A sea of green swept through the stock market as the FTSE 100 rose 1.8 percent or 134.51 points to 7588.20.
The gains came as figures showed UK inflation fell more than expected last month, raising hopes interest rates won’t rise as far as feared.
That helped the FTSE 250, which is more exposed to the UK economy, add 3.8 percent, or 704.30 points, to 19,322.52 and post its best run since November last year.
Despite a rally in the wider industry, Watkin Jones had little to cheer about as the housing developer fell to an all-time low following a profit warning and the departure of its boss.
The group said there was a “greater degree of risk” to its business as “market conditions have become more challenging” amid rising interest rates.
The news came when boss Richard Simpson, who took over in January 2019, decided to step down and be replaced on an interim basis by chief investment officer Alex Pease.
Shares, which floated at 100 pence in March 2016, fell 39.5 percent, or 30.5 pence, to 46.7 pence.
Aston Martin secured its second broker upgrade this week after Goldman Sachs upgraded its rating for the luxury automaker’s shares from ‘neutral’ to ‘buy’ and raised its price target from 212 pence to 413 pence.
The investment bank said Aston’s “new products pave the way for a turnaround in fortunes”.
Goldman expects it will “unveil one new core model each quarter” through the end of 2024, which should boost average selling prices and earnings.
It followed Barclays’ approval on Monday when it maintained its overweight rating on the stock and raised its price target from 300 pence to 375 pence. Shares gained 9 percent, or 29.6p, to 360.4p.
Gooch & Housego, which makes parts for customers in the industrial, aerospace and life science markets, has agreed to buy one of its suppliers.
It will acquire Artemis, an optical coatings thin film company, in a deal worth up to £8.9 million. Shares fell 1.8 percent, or 11 pence, to 589 pence.
Aviva rose 1.8 percent, or 7 pence, to 396.6 pence after the insurer said it expected to make around £700 million in profit for the first half of 2023.
That would be more than the £661 million it made in the same six months last year. And full-year earnings are estimated to be up 5 to 7 percent year-over-year.
Some links in this article may be affiliate links. If you click on it, we may earn a small commission. That helps us fund This Is Money and use it for free. We do not write articles to promote products. We do not allow any commercial relationship to compromise our editorial independence.