FTSE ends year with small rise on 2022
The index gained around 280 points this year.
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Shares in London’s top index rose only marginally on the last day of trading in 2023, helped by fairly strong performances from retailers including Ocado and Sainsbury’s which were tempered by some mining giants.
The FTSE 100 rose 10.5 points, or 0.14% to end the day at 7733.24. The index is now around 280 points higher than it was on the last day of trading in 2022.
Shares in Shell ended the day up 0.9% despite the price of oil looking like it was on track for its first annual fall since the year the pandemic struck.
Geopolitical conflicts and Opec+ production cuts failed to lift prices. A barrel of Brent crude is hovering around the 77-dollar mark. The price has whipsawed this year as expectations of sluggish demand, inventory build ups and conflicts in key locations all amalgamated into volatility
Brent crude was trading up 0.6% to 77.64 dollars per barrel, but it started the year at just above 80 dollars.
“Geopolitical conflicts and Opec+ production cuts failed to lift prices. A barrel of Brent crude is hovering around the 77-dollar mark,” said Sophie Lund-Yates, lead equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.
“The price has whipsawed this year as expectations of sluggish demand, inventory build ups and conflicts in key locations all amalgamated into volatility.”
It was not just the FTSE that failed to eke out anything more than small gains. At the end of the day in Europe, Frankfurt’s Dax index rose 0.30%, while the Cac 40 in Paris had closed up 0.35%.
There isn’t too much festive cheer for UK stocks on the final trading day of 2023. The FTSE 100 has barely budged ... with news of sluggish house price growth in December adding weight behind the theory of slowing activity
In New York, a little while after markets had opened, the S&P 500 had gained 0.06%, while the Dow Jones was 0.05% higher.
“There isn’t too much festive cheer for UK stocks on the final trading day of 2023,” Ms Lund-Yates said, speaking earlier in the day.
“The FTSE 100 has barely budged … with news of sluggish house price growth in December adding weight behind the theory of slowing activity.
“There is an especially strong lens on consumer-facing stocks – we’re only a couple of weeks away from hearing how retailers fared over the crucial Christmas period.
A combination of life becoming more expensive and the prevalence of online options means momentum for the bricks and mortar players has become even harder to harness
“Short sellers are circling some areas of the sector in the expectation of bad news.
“A combination of life becoming more expensive and the prevalence of online options means momentum for the bricks and mortar players has become even harder to harness.”
The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Standard Chartered, up 11.4p to 665.4p, Taylor Wimpey, up 2.25p to 146.82p, Hikma Pharmaceuticals, up 21.5p to 1,782.25p, Sainsbury’s, up 3.2p to 302.45p, and Prudential, up 9p to 884.7p.
The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were Antofagasta, down 28p to 1,680.5p, Land Securities, down 11.6p to 707.2p, Howden Joinery, down 13p to 816.3p, Schroders, down 6.7p to 430.05p, and Endeavour Mining, down 24p to 1,753.5p.