Draghi and easyJet help to boost FTSE to 2pc single-day gain – London Report
UK SHARES had their biggest one-day gain in a week yesterday, buoyed by a commitment by ECB chief Mario Draghi to boost the central bank’s asset-purchase programme if needed to offset the effects of a riskier economic backdrop.
The FTSE 100 blue chip index was up 1.8 per cent at 6,183.09 points at its close.
EasyJet was up 5.4 per cent, having hit its highest level since May, after the airline raised its full-year profit outlook to forecast growth of up to 21 per cent. “EasyJet’s numbers were good, this is a good market rebound,” said Mark Ward, head of execution trading at Sanlam Securities in London. “Overall sentiment is a bit better today.”
Morrison supermarkets was up 4.7 per cent after a report in the Daily Telegraph newspaper signalled South African billionaire Christo Wiese, who recently bought Virgin Active and New Look, is training his sights on Britain’s struggling supermarket industry.
Miners Anglo American and Glencore staged a rebound, rising around six per cent, even after Standard & Poor’s cut its outlook for Glencore to “negative” from “stable”.