London close: Shares higher as US GDP data provides late boost

(Sharecast News) - London stocks finished higher on Tuesday as better-than-expected US GDP data boosted sentiment.

The FTSE 100 finished 0.24% higher at 9,889.22 as traders assessed a deluge of US economic data released in the afternoon.

The US economy grew faster than expected in the third quarter of the year, driven by higher consumer and government spending along with exports.

GDP rose at annualised rate of 4.3%, the US Bureau of Economic Analysis reported on Tuesday, up from 3.8% in April-June, driven by higher consumer and government spending along with exports.

The preliminary reading beat forecasts of a slowing to 3.3%. A fall in investment partly offset the rise, the BEA said. Imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, decreased, it added.

Meanwhile, industrial output across the US rose by the most in four months in November, according to data from the Federal Reserve on Tuesday.

Industrial production increased at a month-on-month rate of 0.2% last month, following a 0.1% decrease in October, marking the biggest gain since July.

Across October and November combined, output rose by 0.1%, in line with September but "a somewhat slower average pace" than the 12-month average, according to the Fed.

Manufacturing production was flat in November after a 0.4% decline in October, with mining and utilities output over October and November netting out slightly higher.

Durable goods orders decreased by 2.20% to $307.4bn in October, according to the Census Bureau, more than erasing September's upwardly revised 0.7% increase.

September's larger than expected decline comes as orders for transportation equipment fell 6.5% to $103.8bn, while non-defense and defense aircraft orders fell 20.1% to $17.4bn and 32.4% to $6.1bn, respectively.

Finally, US manufacturing activity improved in December but remained in negative territory, according to the latest survey from the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond.

The bank-compiled composite manufacturing index rose to -7 in December from -15 in November. All three of its component indexes increased but remained negative. The shipments index increased slightly to -11 from -14, new orders rose to -8 from -22, and the employment index increased to -1 from -7.

"London markets have been subdued on the last full day of trading before the Christmas holidays," said AJ Bell head of financial analysis Danni Hewson.

"Despite the ongoing glittering rallies of precious metals, which have once again lifted miners, there was no last-minute record-breaking boost for the FTSE 100 like the one briefly enjoyed by the pan-European Stoxx 600."

"Good news about the US economy was bad news for Wall Street as a better-than-expected third quarter casts further doubt over the path of interest rates next year. GDP data can only show us where things were, not where things are going, which means investors will step into another year with more questions than answers."

Corporate news was unsurprisingly thin on the ground, but Pets at Home rose after it announced the appointment of former Waitrose managing director James Bailey as chief executive officer, replacing Lyssa McGowan who stood aside in September after a profit warning.

Bailey was MD of Waitrose for more than five years from April 2020 steering the business through the Covid pandemic and high inflation that followed, the pet care company said. He also relaunched Waitrose.com after the company moved off the Ocado platform.

HSBC was in focus as it said senior independent director Ann Godbehere will be stepping down and retiring from the board at the bank's annual general meeting next year. Godbehere oversaw the company's search to replace Mark Tucker as chair.

Outside the FTSE 350, Mothercare gained as the early years kids goods retailer said it wants to rebuild its scale in the UK and globally after a big slump in adjusted profits in its first half as retail sales dropped by a quarter.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 9,889.22 0.24%

FTSE 250 (MCX) 22,349.55 0.03%

techMARK (TASX) 5,590.49 -0.01%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Anglo American (AAL) 2,993.00p 3.03%

Antofagasta (ANTO) 3,235.00p 2.11%

BT Group (BT.A) 185.05p 1.54%

Airtel Africa (AAF) 337.80p 1.44%

Pershing Square Holdings Ltd NPV (PSH) 4,856.00p 1.17%

Rio Tinto (RIO) 5,997.00p 1.11%

Legal & General Group (LGEN) 259.10p 1.05%

Glencore (GLEN) 393.90p 1.01%

Vodafone Group (VOD) 96.96p 0.96%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Diageo (DGE) 1,588.00p -1.79%

Convatec Group (CTEC) 238.60p -1.32%

Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,261.50p -1.25%

Ashtead Group (AHT) 5,206.00p -1.21%

easyJet (EZJ) 506.80p -1.21%

Halma (HLMA) 3,560.00p -1.17%

Compass Group (CPG) 2,384.00p -1.16%

Diploma (DPLM) 5,340.00p -1.02%

Croda International (CRDA) 2,748.00p -0.97%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Oxford Biomedica (OXB) 610.00p 4.27%

Close Brothers Group (CBG) 515.50p 4.27%

Raspberry PI Holdings (RPI) 310.20p 2.17%

W.A.G Payment Solutions (EWG) 102.00p 2.00%

Pan African Resources (PAF) 121.20p 1.85%

Trustpilot Group (TRST) 162.50p 1.75%

Ibstock (IBST) 139.00p 1.61%

RHI Magnesita N.V. (DI) (RHIM) 2,745.00p 1.48%

Pantheon Infrastructure (PINT) 109.00p 1.40%

Helios Towers (HTWS) 163.20p 1.37%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 62.15p -2.66%

Harbour Energy (HBR) 198.70p -2.60%

SSP Group (SSPG) 206.40p -1.81%

Shawbrook Group (SHAW) 480.00p -1.74%

NCC Group (NCC) 141.40p -1.67%

Currys (CURY) 128.40p -1.61%

XPS Pensions Group (XPS) 334.00p -1.47%

PPHE Hotel Group Ltd (PPH) 1,758.00p -1.46%

RTW Biotech Opportunities Ltd (RTW) 2.18p -1.36%

Bodycote (BOY) 696.50p -1.28%