FTSE 100 treads water after Andrew Bailey’s ‘weak growth’ warning for UK
The Bank of England governor also cautioned over the impact of ‘global fragmentation’ on the world economy as markets were broadly flat.
The FTSE 100 struggled to make headway on Tuesday as Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey said the UK is experiencing a “weak growth environment”.
London’s blue-chip index edged downwards by one point to finish the day at 8,767, or a 0.02% fall.
It came as Mr Bailey also cautioned over the impact of “global fragmentation” on the world economy, adding: “Today, we’re in a period of, frankly, heightened uncertainty – we all know what’s going on around us.”
A cooling of price rises in the UK allowed the Bank to cut rates for the third time this month, Mr Bailey said, adding: “Because we are facing a weak growth environment in the UK.
He was speaking after official figures showed UK earnings growth sped to an eight-month high in the three months to December.
Sterling was down 0.1% against the dollar at 1.2608, while it was 0.2% ahead of the euro at 1.2055.
In Europe, France’s Cac 40 rose 0.4%, and in Frankfurt the Dax increased 0.3%.
Stateside, the S&P 500 was 0.1% in the green while the Dow Jones had fallen 0.2% as UK markets were closing.
In company news, Holiday Inn owner InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) said it had snapped up another hotel brand as it reported stronger profits.
The FTSE 100 firm said it has acquired Ruby Hotels for an 110.5 million euros (£87.6 million).
It came as IHG revealed that operating profits grew by 10% to 1.12 billion dollars (£890 million) in 2024, as it benefited from more hotel openings.
But investors were underwhelmed with the figure, which came in at the bottom of previous guidance.
Shares fell 4.4% on Tuesday.
The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were HSBC, up 16.2p to 897.5p, GSK, up 24.5p to 1444p, Rolls-Royce, up 9.2p to 644.6p, Vodafone, up 0.94p to 66.36p, and Glencore, up 4.8p to 355.2p.
The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were Intercontinental Hotels Group, down 535p to 10160p, Sainsbury’s, down 10.6p to 250.8p, Tesco, down 13.5p to 383.5p, Airtel Africa, down 4.3p to 138.7p, and Marks & Spencer, down 10.2p to 348.3p.
