MARKET REPORT: Retailers lead the way on FTSE’s historic day

Retailers guided the FTSE 100 to a record high yesterday.

On a positive day for investors, London’s blue chip index rose 1.6 percent, or 128.02 points, to 8,023.87.

This left the FTSE 100 above its previous high of 8014.31 set in February last year.

The mid-cap FTSE 250 index was also on the rise, up 1.1 percent, or 208.09 points, to 19599.39.

High Street chains and major supermarkets led the way as optimism flowed through City trading floors.

Ocado gained 3.2 percent, or 11.2 cents, to 358.4 cents, after a report over the weekend said the online grocer is under pressure to swap its London listing for New York.

Investors are said to have called on the company to carefully explore the possibility of moving its main trading activities across the Atlantic Ocean.

Ocado has been on a rollercoaster ride since its flotation, with its shares down almost 90 per cent since peaking at 2895p during the Covid lockdowns in September 2020.

The group could join drugmaker Indivior (down 0.5 percent, or 8p, to 1506p), which said in February it was considering shifting its primary listing from Britain to the US in the summer.

Building materials giant CRH and Flutter, the owner of Paddy Power and Betfair, have already done this.

Ocado in the retail rally also saw supermarket and high street giants in attendance.

Sainsbury’s rose 3.9 percent, or 10.2p, to 269p, M&S rose 4.4 percent, or 10.8p, to 256.6p and B&M rose 2.8 percent, or 14.4p, to 524, 8p, after an optimistic research note from the investment bank. Jefferies.

Stock monitoring –

Shares in an Australian miner have more than doubled in value after it was bought for almost £200 million.

Base Resources excavates mineral sands containing metals used as pigments for paint and toothpaste and rare earth metals for magnets.

It has backed a £196 million bid from Energy Fuels, a US-based producer of uranium and critical minerals, to buy all its shares.

Shares rose 122.2 per cent, or 6.6p, to 12p.

Tesco also rose after launching a £450 million share buyback.

Britain’s largest supermarket wants to buy £1 billion worth of shares by April 2025. Shares rose 3.5 percent, or 9.7p, to 291.1p.

The price of bitcoin rose by almost 2 percent to around £66,000, just days after the so-called digital coin ‘halving event’ – when the reward for mining bitcoin is halved, which usually occurs every four years.

Cerillion, which provides billing, invoicing and customer relationship management software, expects to report a record high in the first half of the year as demand surges.

According to the report, revenues and profits appear to have risen 10 percent in the six months to the end of March to £22.5 million and £10.9 million respectively.

However, shares fell 1.7 per cent, or 25p, to 1470p.

Medical diagnostic company Cambridge Nutritional Sciences, which is behind a health app that helps patients monitor foods to avoid and replace, also reported solid results.

The group expects sales to rise 30 per cent to £9.8m in the year to the end of March, beating market forecasts.

The company should also return to profit after making a £2 million loss the year before. Shares rose 13.9 percent, or 0.45p, to 3.7p.

Cambridge-based video streaming specialist Aferian had a day to forget after issuing a profit warning and revealing CEO Donald McGarva’s plans to leave in October.

The group said it was hit by a drop in orders as customers postponed spending. Shares fell 36 percent, or 4.5p, to 8p.