Tuesday, 14th November: The FTSE picked itself back up this morning, after reversing all of the gains that were made yesterday at the close. Helping the index make its gains was Tesco, celebrating the acceptance from regulators of the Booker takeover. The supermarket giant was trading over 5% higher during the morning and secured the top spot at the index. In second place was Vodafone, trading around 4% higher after releasing a proud half year report which revealed they would be raising the financial outlook for the full year ahead, regardless of a 4% dip in revenue which occurred in the most recent six month period. At the end of the day, the two were still firmly stood at the top end of the index.
The anticipated inflation data churned out an unexpected steady rate against the estimates of a subtle rise. Headline CPI inflation remained stable at 3.0% in October and core CPI inflation also remained the same at 2.7%. This consequently added more pressure onto sterling, which fell 0.2% to $1.3089 after the news, but helped the FTSE continue to make gains throughout the morning and into the afternoon.
After reaching a peak of $64.08 at the start of last week which was last seen in June of 2015, oil began to drop today after investors began to question the increase in US output which could overshadow the potential production cuts led by OPEC in order to balance the supply and demand predicament of the rich commodity. Brent Crude fell as low as $62.43 at 15:00(GMT) after closing last week at $63.68.
While we’re on the subject of oil, a true winner of the commodity has turned out to be Iran. After giving Iraq a helping hand to put an end to the short-lived push for independence from Kurdistan, the oil-rich Kirkuk field is soon to be removed from the oil exporting equation as Iran is handed control of the operations in the area. The Kurds’ bid for independence has resulted in the land losing its chances of becoming one of the major oil exporters.
Once again, the FTSE failed to hold on to any gains made during the day as it fell almost flat at the close, down 0.01% at 7414.42.
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