FTSE 100 Rises Over 1% on Entain Boost; Burberry and Hostmore Decline – Reuters

By Khushi Singh and Purvi Agarwal

London’s benchmark index saw a rise of over 1% as travel and leisure stocks led the gains following a positive forecast from gambling firm Entain. Investors are also anticipating labor market data due later this week.

The blue-chip FTSE 100 closed up by 1.1%, marking its largest one-day increase in a month. Meanwhile, the mid-cap index climbed 0.8%, recording its best performance in three weeks.

Travel and leisure shares rose by 1.9%, reaching their highest level in six weeks after Entain reported that its online revenue growth for the second half of this financial year exceeded expectations. Entain was the top performer on the FTSE 100, with a notable 5.3% gain.

Reports suggested that HSBC is considering merging its Commercial and Investment banking divisions to streamline operations and reduce costs. As a result, HSBC shares increased by 1.9%, while the broader banking index rose by 1.7%. HSBC did not provide any comments regarding this speculation.

Most major sectors traded higher, with chemicals and automobile parts seeing increases of 1.9% and 1.7%, respectively.

In contrast, luxury retailer Burberry fell by 4.9%, hitting its lowest price since November 2009, after a downgrade from Barclays to "underweight" from "equal weight." The broader personal goods index declined by 3.1%, reaching levels not seen in nearly 15 years.

Restaurant operator Hostmore experienced a significant drop of over 90.8% after abandoning its plans to acquire the pub chain TGI Fridays.

Additionally, a recruiter survey indicated a noticeable slowdown in Britain’s labor market last month, which could strengthen the argument for potential interest rate cuts by the Bank of England.

Investors are keenly awaiting labor market and gross domestic product data this week for insights into the central bank’s future policies.

The Bank of England is generally anticipated to maintain current interest rates at its upcoming meeting, whereas the European Central Bank is expected to announce a rate cut in its own meeting this week.