FTSE rise led by tech and telecoms ahead of Bank rate decision

Tech and telecom stocks led the way as London’s markets made gains ahead of the latest Bank of England rate update.

The City witnessed positive trading sentiment as traders gear up for a possible interest rate hike to 0.5% at Thursday’s Monetary Policy Committee meeting.

The FTSE 100 ended the day up 47.22 points, or 0.63%, at 7,583 points.

Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets, highlighted that the FTSE briefly broke the 7,600 point mark on the back of broad positivity across the continent, although German stocks were slightly downbeat amid weakness in the industrial sector.

“The tech and telecoms sector led the gains in the UK today, led by the likes of Auto Trader, which is higher on the back of broker upgrade from Jefferies,” he added.

“Meanwhile Vodafone and BT Group are doing well, as investors weigh up today’s results from Vodafone, and ahead of BT’s results tomorrow.”

In Europe, the French Cac closed up 0.22% and the German Dax down 0.04%.

Across the Atlantic, Wall Street was in good spirits as traders picked up where they left off on Tuesday, as the markets sought to post their fourth successive daily gain, led by the Nasdaq 100.

Meanwhile, sterling made marginal ground against a weak US dollar, as currency traders were disappointed by the latest ADP jobs report, which saw the US economy shed 301,000 jobs last month.

The pound was up just 0.01% against the US dollar to 1.356, and decreased 0.02% against the euro to 1.200.

In company news, Playtech shares closed in the green after its proposed £2.7 billion takeover by Australia’s Aristocrat collapsed after it failed to secure enough backing from shareholders.

The firm only received positive votes from 56% of shareholders at its court meeting and 54% at a general meeting, falling substantially short of the 75% threshold needed for the deal.

Shareholders cheered the move and a positive trading update, sending shares 8p higher to 585p.

Elsewhere, Harbour Energy dropped after the FTSE 250 confirmed its executive director Phil Kirk is set to step down from the business.

Mr Kirk set up Harbour’s privately held predecessor Chrysaor and grew it into the biggest oil and gas producer in the UK North Sea following a raft of acquisitions.

Shares in the firm fell 20.2p to 345.3p after his departure was confirmed.

Chilean copper miner Antofagasta slid to the bottom of the FTSE 100 after reports that the government in Chile could hike its tax burden to deal with current social pressures.

Shares moved 77.5p lower to 1,284p at the close of play as a result.

The price of oil initially moved higher after Opec+ decided to proceed with their planned 400,000 barrel a day increase to daily production in March but swung lower later in the session.

Brent crude decreased by 0.64% to 88.59 US dollars per barrel when the London markets closed.

The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Ocado, up 81.5p at 1,512.5p; Vodafone, up 4.36p at 132.32p; Barratt Developments, up 16p at 629.4p; NatWest, up 6p at 252.5p; and Auto Trader, up 16.4p at 692p.

The biggest fallers were Antofagasta, down 77.5p at 1,284p; IAG, down 3.46p at 156.86p; Fresnillo, down 12.8p at 636.8p; Intercontinental Hotel Group, down 93p at 4,875p; and Rolls-Royce, down 2.02p at 115.2p.