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(Alliance News) -Â Stocks trudged higher on Wednesday as caution continues to linger ahead of the week's headline event, Friday's US nonfarm payrolls figure for May.
However, the mid-cap FTSE 250 index did manage to clock a fresh record high during Wednesday's session.
London's blue-chip FTSE 100 index closed up 27.54 points, or 0.4%, at 7,108.00 on Wednesday.
The FTSE 250 ended up 58.30 points, or 0.3%, at 22,933.29, hitting an all-time intraday high of 22,974.38 during the session. The AIM All-Share closed down 2.46 points, or 0.2%, at 1,256.32.
The Cboe UK 100 ended up 0.3% at 707.91, the Cboe UK 250 closed up 0.3% at 20,677.06, and the Cboe Small Companies ended up 0.4% at 15,227.88.
In European equities, the CAC 40 in Paris gained 0.5%, while the DAX 30 in Frankfurt ended up 0.2%.
Markets made "steady progress" on Wednesday, said IG's chief market analyst, Chris Beauchamp, but a lack of macro drivers "left things a little dull".
"As in the US, a lack of big-name earnings data leaves the [FTSE 100] somewhat adrift, and once again outshone by the mid-cap 250 that has hit a new record high today," added Beauchamp. "But overall indices remain in solid form, and have started June on the right foot after holding their ground in a less-than exciting May."
While the economic calendar was muted on Wednesday, things pick up again on Thursday with a raft of PMIs out of Asia and Europe and ADP's employment report for May, as well as jobless claims, due from the US.
Thursday's jobs data comes ahead of this week's headline event, being Friday's monthly US jobs report.
According to FXStreet, analyst expect the US to add 664,000 jobs in May after a disappointingly low 266,000 rise in April.
However, Oxford Economics said: "We expect an above-consensus payroll gain of 854k jobs reflecting the continued economic reopening, strong labor demand and some easing of supply constraints."
Stocks in New York were higher at the London equities close, with the Dow Jones up 0.3%, the S&P 500 index up 0.3%, and the Nasdaq Composite rising 0.2%.
In data released on Wednesday, German retail sales in slipped in April, provisional results of the Federal Statistical Office showed. Retail turnover was 5.5% lower in April versus March, coming in worse than market consensus - according to FXStreet - which expected a 2% fall. Turnover had risen by 7.7% in March from February.
Meanwhile, industrial producer prices rose in April in the EU. Prices rose by 1.0% in the euro area and by 0.9% in the EU compared with the previous month. Market consensus, according to FXStreet, guided for a rise of 0.9% in the euro area.
The euro stood at USD1.2214 at the European equities close Wednesday, down against USD1.2248 at the same time on Tuesday.
In the UK, mortgage approvals rose in April as house buyers continued to take advantage of government support measures.
The number of mortgage approvals for house purchases in the UK was 86,921 in April, up from 83,402 approvals in March. The latest reading was higher than the market forecast, cited by FXStreet, of 84,970.
The pound was quoted at USD1.4182 at the London equities close Wednesday, edging up from USD1.4178 at the close on Tuesday.
London-listed housebuilders were largely unmoved by the news. Berkeley Group Holdings rose 0.5%, Barratt Developments fell 0.1% and Persimmon declined 0.3%.
Helping to push the FTSE 250 to new records was Tate & Lyle, gaining 2.5% after Berenberg raised the sweetener and food ingredients maker to Buy from Hold.
Suffering at the hands of a ratings downgrade was Greencore, ending down 4.3% after Jefferies reduced the sandwich maker to Hold from Buy. However, Peel Hunt did upgrade Greencore to Hold from Reduce.
Elsewhere in London, Bloomsbury Publishing rallied 11% after posting a rise in both annual profit and revenue, declaring a special dividend on top.
The London-based publisher hailed the popularity of reading as a "ray of sunshine" during a "very dark year" brought about by the pandemic.
For the financial year ended February 28, pretax profit was up 31% to GBP17.3 million from GBP13.2 million the year before, on revenue of GBP185.1 million, up 14% from GBP162.8 million. In response, Bloomsbury declared a total dividend of 8.86 pence per share, an 8% increase on the 8.17p the year before. It also proposed a special dividend of 9.78p.
In the coming year, Bloomsbury expects to achieve revenue ahead of the wider market and profit "comfortably ahead" of competition. The publisher puts those financial expectations for 2022 at pretax profit before highlighted items of GBP17.4 million compared to GBP19.2 million in the 2021 financial year on revenue of GBP177.5 million.
Brent oil was quoted at USD70.96 a barrel at the London equities close Wednesday, down from USD71.11 late Tuesday.
Gold was quoted at USD1,904.77 an ounce at the London equities close Wednesday, up against USD1,899.75 at the close on Tuesday.
Against the yen, the dollar rose to JPY109.61 compared to JPY109.40 late Tuesday.
In Thursday's UK corporate calendar there are full-year results from B&M European Value Retail, Pennon Group and NewRiver REIT.
The economic calendar on Thursday has services PMIs from Japan, China, Germany, the eurozone, UK and US at 0130 BST, 0245 BST, 0855 BST, 0900 BST, 0930 BST and 1445 BST respectively. Also due in the US is ADP's job report at 1315 BST and jobless claims at 1330 BST.
By Lucy Heming;Â lucyheming@alliancenews.com
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