Last checked at (Sharecast News) - Aerospace and Defence names extended their gains from the preceding session on the back of analysts' upgrades, some of whom had pointed out that the historic valuation discount versus the broader market, defined as the Stoxx Europe 600, that they had reached in October.
Stock in BAE Systems, Rolls Royce and Ultra Electronics were all higher.
Banks were right behind also on the back of an upgrade out of JP Morgan during the previous session.
Analysts at the investment bank highlighted the group's 26% year-to-date underperformance relative to the broader market, with the Stoxx 600 sector gauge having dropped by around 40% before Tuesday.
On average, that had left valuations "cheap", with lenders' shares changing hands on a price-to-tangible net asset value of approximately 0.5 (0.4 in the case of Eurozone banks).
Yet banks had the "highest correlation" to macro factors, including government bond yields, PMIs, and inflation expectations, on top of which JP Morgan had a positive view on the outlook for a recovery in the front half of 2021, what with fiscal stimulus in the pipeline and vaccines on the way.
There was also the possibility that dividends might be reinstated across the space.
"Banks remain highly geared to the macro outlook via asset quality and [net interest income] drivers, with a steepening yield curve helpful for NII from structural hedges (esp for Benelux, France, UK) [...]."
Top performing sectors so far today
Aerospace and Defence 2,994.05 +5.25%
Banks 2,130.26 +4.74%
Construction & Materials 6,427.03 +4.35%
Life Insurance 5,551.23 +4.17%
Technology Hardware & Equipment 2,271.51 +3.97%
Bottom performing sectors so far today
Oil Equipment, Services & Distribution 4,064.43 -0.71%
Food & Drug Retailers 4,058.39 -0.36%
Fixed Line Telecommunications 1,262.28 -0.31%
Alternative Energy 0.00 0.00%
Alternative Investment Instruments NULL 0.00%
Today 16:35
London close: Stocks buoyed by banking, mining positivity
(Sharecast News) - London's equity markets closed positively on Friday, buoyed by gains in the banking sector following better-than-expected results from NatWest.
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