London close: Stocks rise after strong Chinese GDP data

(Sharecast News) - London's stock market closed in positive territory on Tuesday, as investors digested the latest UK jobs data, as well as strong economic growth figures from China. The FTSE 100 ended the day up 0.38% at 7,909.44, while the FTSE 250 saw a more modest gain of 0.05%, closing at 19,296.32.

Corporate updates continued to flow through thick and fast, with reports from the likes of Entain and easyJet contributing to the upbeat mood.

In currency markets, sterling was in the green against its major pairs, last rising 0.36% on the dollar to trade at $1.2421, while it strengthened 0.04% against the euro to change hands at €1.1332.

"After a quieter start to the week, the FTSE 100 has made more headway today, even with the pound's strong showing against the dollar," said IG chief market analyst Chris Beauchamp.

"Another boost on wages seems to have trumped the rise in unemployment benefit claimants and the higher unemployment rate, with the BoE now expected to use the strength in pay packets to support another rate hike."

UK unemployment edges higher, China GDP growth beats forecasts

In economic news, the Office for National Statistics released figures earlier showing that the UK unemployment rate rose slightly to 3.8% in the three months to February.

That was a 0.1 percentage point increase from the previous quarter, with the rise attributed to people who had been unemployed for up to six months.

The employment rate meanwhile saw a slight increase of 0.2 percentage points to 75.8%, which the ONS attributed to part-time and self-employed workers.

However, the number of vacancies fell by 47,000 to 1,105,000.

The ONS also reported that growth in regular pay excluding bonuses was 6.6% in December to February, while growth in total pay including bonuses was 5.9%, but in real terms, regular pay fell by 2.3% and total pay was 3% lower.

"Looking at economic inactivity by reason, the quarterly decrease was largely driven by people inactive because they are students," the ONS said.

The decline in vacancies was the ninth in a row, reflecting "uncertainty across industries, as survey respondents continue to cite economic pressures as a factor in holding back on recruitment," it added.

On the continent, the ZEW economic sentiment index for Germany fell unexpectedly in April, dropping to 4.1 from 13.0 points in March.

The assessment of the current situation in Europe's largest economy improved, but the overall economic situation was still considered negative.

Across the pond, housebuilding activity in the US slowed as expected in March, but the underlying data came in better than anticipated.

Housing starts dropped 0.8% to an annual rate of 1.42 million, with single-family starts up 2.7% to 861,000.

Finally on data, China's latest economic activity data exceeded expectations, with its GDP expanding at a 4.5% year-on-year pace in the first quarter of 2023.

That was well above Bloomberg's expectations for a 4.0% print.

Julian Evans-Pritchard, head of China economics at Capital Economics, said GDP was headed towards growth of over 7.0% during the second quarter.

Retail sales in China in March were meanwhile up 10.6%, and industrial output was up by 3.9% on the year.

"This was partly due to favourable base effects from a year ago when several large cities entered lockdowns," Evans-Pritchard added.

"But our estimates suggest sales continued to rise in seasonally adjusted terms too."

Miners on the front foot after Chinese growth data

On London's equity markets, the mining sector saw a boost after the positive growth numbers out of China, with Glencore, Anglo American and Antofagasta all posting strong gains.

Entain, the owner of Ladbrokes, saw its share price rise 7.24% after announcing a 15% increase in net gaming revenue for the first quarter of 2023.

Outsourcing specialist Mitie Group was up 13.5%, after it said it now expected to beat operating profit guidance, and announced a £50m share buyback.

Low-cost airline easyJet ascended 1.6% after it said it expected to exceed market expectations for annual profits, amid high demand and strong summer bookings.

Transact owner IntegraFin Holdings closed 7.95% firmer after it also released positive second-quarter results.

Housebuilders Persimmon, Taylor Wimpey and Berkeley Group Holdings reversed earlier losses to end the day with slight gains, having been impacted earlier by a cautious research note from JPMorgan.

On the downside, defensive plays such as Centrica, SSE, GSK, British American Tobacco and Vodafone Group were in the red.

Centrica was down 1.22%, SSE slipped 0.55%, GSK was off 1.84%, BAT weakened 0.46%, and Vodafone was 0.76% below the waterline by the close.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.

Market Movers

techMARK 4,701.84 -0.07% FTSE 100 7,909.44 +0.38% FTSE 250 19,296.32 +0.05%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Entain (ENT) 1,400.00p +7.24% Anglo American (AAL) 2,800.00p +3.26% Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 155.85p +3.21% Fresnillo (FRES) 801.00p +3.20% Flutter Entertainment (CDI) (FLTR) 15,480.00p +2.62% Prudential (PRU) 1,171.00p +2.27% Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 1,999.00p +2.17% Endeavour Mining (EDV) 2,184.00p +2.15% M&G (MNG) 199.85p +2.02% Admiral Group (ADM) 2,234.00p +1.87%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Unite Group (UTG) 928.50p -2.16% GSK (GSK) 1,484.00p -1.84% Airtel Africa (AAF) 110.30p -1.34% B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 490.40p -1.33% Centrica (CNA) 113.10p -1.22% British Land Company (BLND) 391.50p -1.21% Compass Group (CPG) 2,051.00p -1.16% Ashtead Group (AHT) 4,743.00p -1.00% Diageo (DGE) 3,647.00p -1.00% Mondi (MNDI) 1,296.50p -0.99%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Mitie Group (MTO) 92.50p +13.50% Crest Nicholson Holdings (CRST) 272.20p +8.88% IntegraFin Holding (IHP) 277.00p +7.95% WH Smith (SMWH) 1,617.00p +3.65% W.A.G Payment Solutions (WPS) 97.00p +3.41% OSB Group (OSB) 498.40p +2.81% Bridgepoint Group (Reg S) (BPT) 241.00p +2.47% TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 562.80p +2.40% Marshalls (MSLH) 333.00p +2.34% Mitchells & Butlers (MAB) 169.30p +2.23%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Baltic Classifieds Group (BCG) 159.00p -4.22% Hunting (HTG) 242.00p -3.97% ASOS (ASC) 716.40p -3.40% Balanced Commercial Property Trust Limited (BCPT) 88.90p -3.26% Harbour Energy (HBR) 261.60p -3.25% AJ Bell (AJB) 329.20p -3.12% 4Imprint Group (FOUR) 4,450.00p -3.05% Liontrust Asset Management (LIO) 934.50p -2.91% IP Group (IPO) 58.10p -2.68% Genus (GNS) 2,720.00p -2.65%

FTSE TechMARK - Risers

RM (RM.) 81.60p +6.67% XP Power Ltd. (DI) (XPP) 2,130.00p +2.65% BATM Advanced Communications Ltd. (BVC) 22.15p +2.31% Dialight (DIA) 213.00p +0.47%

FTSE TechMARK - Fallers

Xaar (XAR) 186.00p -3.63% Gresham Technologies (GHT) 148.50p -2.62% Oxford Biomedica (OXB) 434.50p -2.14% Triad Group (TRD) 150.00p -1.64% Aptitude Software Group (APTD) 351.00p -1.40% Ricardo (RCDO) 550.00p -0.36%