FTSE 100 Live: Markets steady after two-day rally, Taylor Wimpey boss to step down
opes that the Omicron variant of Covid-19 is not as severe as first thought should keep the London market above where it was prior to its Black Friday slump.
The FTSE 100 index has rallied sharply in the past two sessions, although traders expect more caution today as attention turns back to the threat posed by inflation.
In London corporate news, Taylor Wimpey announced chief executive Pete Redfern is to step down after more than 14 years at the helm. There are also results or updates from Games Workshop, holidays giant TUI and railway station caterer SSP.
One of the longest serving bosses in the housebuilding industry is stepping down after Taylor Wimpey announced that Pete Redfern is to leave the business.
He has been chief executive for more than 14 years and will go once a successor is found and a full handover has taken place.
Redfern, who took the helm just as housebuilding shares crashed in the face of the 2007 credit crunch, said he left the company in “excellent health” and well positioned for strong future growth.
Shares are still a long way short of where they were before the pandemic, despite a robust year for the housebuilding industry.
The resurgence of the London stock market is set to hit pause today after two sessions of big gains left the FTSE 100 index at its highest level since 15 November.
The top flight has now recovered all its Omicron-led losses after traders drew comfort from signs that the symptoms associated with the new variant are mild.
Wall Street markets followed Europe's positive lead last night, with the Nasdaq posting its biggest one day gain since March.
CMC Markets sees the FTSE 100 index opening five points lower at 7,335.
Its chief markets analyst Michael Hewson said: “We are almost two weeks from when the first reports started to come out of South Africa, and thus far there appears to have been no direct causal links to any deaths.
“This doesn’t, of course, change the dynamic when it comes to how Europe is battling against the increases being seen in Delta cases, and which is likely to hamper the recovery across the likes of Germany, Austria and the Netherlands where restrictions and lockdowns have been re-imposed.”
Hewson added that this week's gains for stock markets were all the more surprising given the backdrop of increasing inflationary risk. The key focus on this front will be Friday's US CPI number for November, having jumped sharply the previous month to 6.2%.
The fate of China's Evergrande is also a concern after the property developer missed another debt repayment deadline. Its shares are now at an all-time low.
Oil prices, meanwhile, have steadied following their strong gains earlier in the week. Brent crude futures are at $75 a barrel, a fall of 0.5% in trading today.