FTSE rises despite bleaker-than-expected economic data

Despite weak economic figures on Monday London’s top share index managed to eke out a small gain by the end of the day.

The FTSE 100 closed up 0.2%, or 14.86 points, ending the day at 7,678.59.

It came after the closely watched flash purchasing managers’ index (PMI) scored 50.7 in July, down sharply from 52.8 last month and much lower than the 52.3 that experts had forecast.

But the FTSE did not seem overly bothered by the news. It traded in the red for part of the day, but was positive when markets closed, benefiting from a weaker pound.

“European markets have shrugged off this morning’s PMI figures, while the Dow has hit a new 2023 high ahead of this week’s earnings,” said Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at online trading platform IG.

He added: “The FTSE 100 and other markets have reversed their morning weakness despite the raft of poorer PMIs.

“These have pushed down the euro and sterling, giving European indices their usual modest lift, but ahead of this week’s central bank decisions a view is gathering pace that the period of rising rates is at an end, providing some hope of a market uplift into year-end.”

Meanwhile in Germany the Dax index closed up 0.1%, while France’s Cac 40 index dropped 0.1%.

On Wall Street the Dow Jones was trading up 0.5% while the S&P 500 had gained 0.4% shortly after European markets closed for the day.

Currency markets saw the pound drop 0.3% to 1.282 dollars while it rose 0.2% to 1.157 euros.

In company news in London, Vodafone said that its revenue had fallen 4.8% to 10.7 billion euros (£9.3 billion) in the three months to the end of June.

It blamed a loss of customers over the last year and a half, saying that it had been abandoned by broadband, TV and mobile customers.

Yet shares in the telecoms giant rose by 3.9% on Monday.

Meanwhile, budget airline Ryanair said its profit had almost quadrupled after a strong Easter and the impact of the coronation.

The airline, which is no longer listed in London, said after-tax profit hit 663 million euros (£573.6 million) in the first quarter, compared with 170 million euros (£147.1 million) in the same period last year.

The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Ocado, up 98p to 785p, Vodafone, up 3p to 76.51p, BT, up 2.8p to 125.95p, BP, up 7.9p to 483.7p, and Persimmon, up 18p to 1,187p.

The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were Beazley, down 17.5p to 558p, Burberry, down 62p to 2,182p, Hargreaves Lansdown, down 20.2p to 906.8p, WPP, down 16.2p to 811.8p, and Sage Group, down 18.4p to 919.4p.