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The FTSE 100 index has gained ground, clawing back some of the previous session’s losses, following upbeat inflation figures. ITV (LON:ITV) meanwhile has climbed to the top of the blue-chip leaderboard on the back of bid hopes.
As of 12:06 GMT, the Footsie had added 29.08 points to stand 0.42 percent higher at 6,919.50. Sentiment has been upbeat after the Office for National Statistics reported that the nation’s consumer price index had climbed 1.2 percent last month.
“The FTSE and pound both reacted pretty well to the news,” Connor Campbell at Spreadex commented in an afternoon market update, adding, however, that the FTSE 100 was also helped by banking stocks. The sector has received a lift following a cash call from Italy’s UniCredit. Lloyds Banking Group (LON:LLOY) is currently leading the sector higher, having added 1.42 percent to 62.25p.
Outside the banking sector, ITV’s share price has spiked 3.46 percent to stand at 191.60p. The Guardian reports that the group is leading the way amid hopes that it could be a takeover target following Twenty-First Century Fox’s move on FTSE 100 peer Sky (LON:SKY).
At the other end of the spectrum has been Standard Life (LON:SL), whose shares have been sold off after analysts at Deutsche Bank trimmed their stance on the blue-chip insurer from ‘buy’ to ‘hold’. Proactive Investors quoted the broker as highlighting concerns over fund outflows and margin pressures at the group. Standard Life’s share price is currently 1.14 percent worse off at 356.40p.
“It is pretty much priced in by the market the we will see a hike in (US) rates. This is likely to cause relative strength in the dollar and that is quite negative for commodities,” Jonathan Roy, advisory investment manager at Charles Hanover Investments, told Reuters. Antofagasta (LON:ANTO) is the sector’s biggest faller, having shed 2.45 percent to 755.50p.
The FTSE 100 was 0.51 percent up at 6,925.73 points as of 12:20 GMT on Tuesday, 13 December 2016.
