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(Reuters) – The UK stock rose on Thursday, ending short of a new record high as investors sought clarity on US President Donald Trump’s trade policies, while shares in brokerages CMC Markets (LON:) and IG Group fell after the results.
The blue-chip index gained 0.2% to 8,565 points, touching a high of 8,584 points on Wednesday. The FTSE 250 midcap index was down 0.2%.
Stock investors took comfort this week as Trump held up big taxes on his first day in office and announced massive investments in intelligence infrastructure, sparking a rally in global stocks.
The focus is now on economic data, corporate earnings and comments from Trump later in the day.
In revenue-driven trends, CMC Markets fell 16.7% after a muted forecast for the trading floor settled on higher investor expectations following forecasts from industry peers.
Peer IG Group fell 6.4% despite the online trading platform posting a 30% rise in its first quarter profit.
Inchcape (OTC: ) fell 13.3% after JP Morgan downgraded the auto distributor to “neutral” from “overweight”.
FTSE 100-list Associated British Foods (OTC:) fell nearly 3% after it reported weak trading in its largest UK market in the Christmas quarter and lowered the annual sales forecast for its budget fashion retailer Primark.
Meanwhile investors are awaiting a number of monetary policy decisions including the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank next week and the Bank of England (BoE) in early February.
Data last week showed inflation in Britain unexpectedly fell last month and key measures of price growth – tracked by the BoE – fell sharply, strengthening bets on an interest rate cut next month.
Traders are placing an 82% chance of a first-quarter downgrade in Feb. 6 and are fully priced with at least two price cuts this year.
An industry survey on Thursday showed a sharp decline in British factory jobs slowed slightly in January and optimism among manufacturers fell to the lowest level in two years.
British Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves told Reuters she would announce changes if necessary in March to meet the government’s financial regulations.
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