Although Friday trading was muted, the FTSE 100 had a relatively good week overall - closing up 1.1% at 5812.75. From a macro perspective, encouraging economic signs were seen in US, Japan and Australia, with data revealing that the US trade deficit had fallen to its lowest level in nine months in October. The fly in the ointment was an expected interest rate hike in China this weekend, as tightening monetary policy may hit Chinese demand for overseas goods and, in turn, the global economic recovery. As the FTSE continues the ascent of recent weeks, speculation has mounted as to whether the FTSE 100 might breach 6000, although it still seems a stretch with only three weeks of trading left this year.
New Highs
Overall, the continued buoyancy of London markets this week produced a brace of new highs - some 140 across the market, only slightly below last week with just 32 lows. Leading the pack amongst the risers was diversified engineering company and recovery play, 600 Group (LON:SIXH), which rose almost 50% this week after announcing that it had returned to profit in its half-year financial results. CEO David Norman said: "The success of the turnaround strategy we are executing, coupled with the funding secured earlier in the year, means the group is now in a significantly stronger financial position to deliver increasing revenues and margins”. The small cap engineering firm, which has its European machine tool manufacturing hub in Heckmondwike, said its order book is up 33% on the comparative period in 2009.
Sector-wise, the financial sector was the most active in the new highs list. The London Stock Exchange Group (LON:LSE) hit a new high, as did Prudential (LON:PRU) which was up almost 9% on the week to 654p. It was upgraded to overweight from equal weight by Morgan Stanley, which said the group's new moves to repatriate capital back to the center marked a turning point which could help fuel a re-rating of the shares. Other financials that saw new highs include Schroders (LON:SDR) , Close Bros Group (LON:CBG) ,
Already have an account?
Unlock the rest of this article with a 14 day trial
Login here
