Banks help lift London’s FTSE 100 while other European stocks slide

Shares in London’s FTSE 100 bucked the European trend on Tuesday as the index posted a rise on the day helped by the banking sector and Primark owner AB Foods.

The FTSE 100 closed the day up 0.4%, a rise of 30.66 points, to end on 7,527.53.

It was a rise helped by London’s banking stocks, which put in a strong performance during the day.

Barclays rose 2.5% even as unions said the bank planned to make around 450 redundancies, but with a separate wider strategic review reportedly in the works which could mollify investors.

Meanwhile, AB Foods leapt to the top of the blue-chip index with shares up more than 5% after the group raised its profit guidance again, after cheering a “very good year” with costs easing and sales rising at Primark.

Other European stock markets slipped into the red on Tuesday. Germany’s Dax fell by 0.54% and France’s Cac 40 dipped 0.35% at close.

It was a mixed start to trading over in the US, with the S&P down 0.23% and Dow Jones up 0.26% by the time European markets closed.

The pound tumbled against the US dollar earlier in the day but recovered some ground by the evening, although it was still down 0.2% to 1.249 dollars. Sterling was flat against the euro to 1.1634.

The price of Brent crude oil surged by 1.62% to 92.1 US dollars per barrel.

In company news, shares in Smurfit Kappa slid after the packaging giant announced a multi-billion tie-up with US rival WestRock.

The merger, which will create the combined business Smurfit WestRock, is expected to help Smurfit break into the US market and was described as a “defining moment within the global packaging industry” by boss Tony Smurfit.

But shareholders did not seem enthused by the deal and its shares slumped by a 10th, hitting the bottom of the FTSE 100.

Home improvement retailer Wickes enjoyed a modest uplift in its share price after telling shareholders it was standing by its full-year profit expectations despite taking a hit from separating its IT systems from former owner Travis Perkins.

The chain said its first-half pre-tax profit had slid by more than a third, but it stressed that demand for its low-cost DIY products was steady as total sales edged up. Its share price moved 3.5% higher on Tuesday.

The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Associated British Foods, up 107p to 2,108p, Airtel Africa, up 3.9p to 118p, Vodafone Group, up 2.25p to 77.38p, BT Group, up 3.05p to 116.15p, and Barclays, up 3.68p to 153.58p.

The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were Smurfit Kappa Group, down 300p to 2,768p, Antofagasta, down 60.5p to 1,449p, Croda International, down 112p to 5,030p, Johnson Matthey, down 37p to 1,711p, and DS Smith, down 5.9p to 284.6p.