London close: Stocks cling to gains ahead of Biden's big spend

(Sharecast News) - London stocks remained above the waterline at the close on Friday, shortly before Joe Biden was due to take the wraps off his spending plans as US president, which are expected to be in the region of $6trn (£4.23trn).
The FTSE 100 was up 0.04% at 7,022.61, and the FTSE 250 added 0.11% to 22,683.95, ahead of the bank holiday long weekend.

Sterling was in the red, meanwhile, last trading 0.11% lower on the dollar at $1.4192, and slipping 0.13% against the euro to €1.1634.

"A continually-declining VIX is a reason to be fairly optimistic about the outlook, as 2021 continues to mark a complete sea-change from 2020," said IG chief market analyst Chris Beauchamp.

"Breakouts to new multi-year highs across a host of indices confirm that the global equity market is gaining strength, finally joining the US market in a longer-term bull market.

"The quiet nature of 2021 so far has been a surprise for so many investors, but with vaccine programmes firmly in place and government and central bank support a fixture for a long time to come there remain plenty of reasons to remain confident that equities can make further headway in the rest of year."

President Biden is expected to announce his spending plan at 1830 GMT.

In equity markets, housebuilder Vistry was boosted 4.25% by an upgrade to 'overweight' from 'equal weight' at Barclays.

Housebuilders had a decent day in general, with Barratt Developments up 2.33%, Taylor Wimpey adding 2.63%, and Persimmon 2.43% firmer.

On the downside, pubs chains Wetherspoons and Mitchells & Butlers were down 2.73% and 3.54%, while Upper Crust owner SSP Group and Wagamama owner Restaurant Group were off 1.47% and 3.96%, respectively.

The slide for hospitality plays came after Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Thursday evening that the lifting of all Covid-19 restrictions in England on 21 June could be delayed, due to the spread of the so-called Indian variant.

AstraZeneca was also weaker, slipping 0.67%, even after it said its Tagrisso cancer drug had been approved in the European Union after positive results from a phase 3 trial.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,022.61 0.04%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 22,683.95 0.11%
techMARK (TASX) 4,382.73 0.02%

FTSE 100 - Risers

London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) 7,574.00p 2.99%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 171.40p 2.63%
Croda International (CRDA) 7,004.00p 2.43%
Persimmon (PSN) 3,177.00p 2.43%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 756.40p 2.33%
Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 1,195.00p 2.31%
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 4,679.00p 1.89%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 2,141.00p 1.81%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 172.70p 1.74%
Intermediate Capital Group (ICP) 2,103.00p 1.55%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Royal Mail (RMG) 578.60p -2.85%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,544.50p -2.18%
Evraz (EVR) 637.60p -2.18%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 5,148.00p -1.94%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 1,889.00p -1.90%
Polymetal International (POLY) 1,696.50p -1.74%
Fresnillo (FRES) 902.20p -1.69%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 2,713.00p -1.69%
Sage Group (SGE) 656.60p -1.56%
Imperial Brands (IMB) 1,600.00p -1.11%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Vistry Group (VTY) 1,325.00p 4.25%
Crest Nicholson Holdings (CRST) 458.20p 3.81%
GCP Student Living (DIGS) 172.00p 3.61%
PureTech Health (PRTC) 398.00p 3.38%
Workspace Group (WKP) 906.00p 3.37%
Avon Rubber (AVON) 3,096.00p 3.20%
Pagegroup (PAGE) 599.00p 2.66%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 196.00p 2.62%
Countryside Properties (CSP) 511.00p 2.54%
Chrysalis Investments Limited NPV (CHRY) 205.00p 2.50%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

FirstGroup (FGP) 81.50p -5.23%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 451.40p -4.31%
Restaurant Group (RTN) 121.60p -3.96%
Savills (SVS) 1,187.00p -3.89%
Premier Foods (PFD) 106.00p -3.81%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 109.70p -3.69%
Volution Group (FAN) 440.50p -3.63%
Mitchells & Butlers (MAB) 305.00p -3.54%
National Express Group (NEX) 302.40p -3.45%
C&C Group (CDI) (CCR) 241.40p -3.36%