It’s a new month, and also the second half of the year. And the London stock market can look back on its strongest first six months of any year since 2021.
The FTSE 100 share index has gained 7.2% so far this year, its best January-June performance in four years, and its third-best first half to a year in the last decade.
Stocks in London have recovered from their trade war shock in early April, helped by Donald Trump’s 90-day pause to new tariffs which ends next week. Britain’s trade deal with the US, which kicked in yesterday, has also helped the mood.
Danni Hewson, the AJ Bell head of financial analysis, says: “Considering the massive market wobble which followed Donald Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ speech the fact that the FTSE 100 has turned in its best half-time performance since 2021 is something worth shouting about.
“Big share price falls grabbed headlines at the start of April as many UK investors watched the value of their pensions fall, but despite the geopolitical uncertainty and tariff turmoil London markets have thrived in the second quarter."
The FTSE 100 was lifted by strong gains among defence companies; BAE Systems has gained over 60%, while Babcock has more than doubled, as rising geopolitical threats lift their order books.
The smaller FTSE 250 index had a strong second quarter to the year, gaining over 11% in April-June, Reuters reports.
Other global markets also recovered from their trade war slump, with the US S&P 500 index ending June at a record high.
Meanwhile, the average UK house price fell last month, adding to signs of a slowdown in the property market.
Lender Nationwide reports that house prices fell by 0.8% in June, following a 0.4% rise in May.
That pulled the average annual rate of house price inflation down to 2.1%, from 3.5%, and means the average property now costs £271,619.
Robert Gardner, Nationwide’s chief economist, said: "The softening in price growth may reflect weaker demand following the increase in stamp duty at the start of April. Nevertheless, we still expect activity to pick up as the summer progresses, despite ongoing economic uncertainties in the global economy, since underlying conditions for potential homebuyers in the UK remain supportive.
“The unemployment rate remains low, earnings are rising at a healthy pace in real terms (ie after accounting for inflation), household balance sheets are strong and borrowing costs are likely to moderate a little if Bank rate is lowered further in the coming quarters as we and most other analysts expect."
The agenda
• 7am BST: Nationwide’s UK house price index for June
• 8am BST: Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey to give an interview to CNBC
• 9am BST: Eurozone manufacturing PMI report for June
• 9.30am BST: UK manfuacturing PMI report for June
• 10am BST: eurozone inflation estimate for June
• 2.30pm BST: Andrew Bailey, ECB president Christine Lagarde, Fed chair Jerome Powell, Bank of Japan’s Kazuo Ueda and Bank of Korea governor Chang Yong Rhee speak at the ECB Forum on Central Banking in Sintra3pm BST: JOLTS report on US job creation
We'll be tracking all the main events throughout the day … |
