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Defensives figured prominently on the leaderboard on a down day for the stock market as Sterling continued to show staying power.
Diageo paced gains in the Beverage space as investors cheered its decision to stock up on the Philippine’s Don Papa Rum to the tune of €260m up front and another €177.5m to out to 2028 – subject to performance.
Electricity was close behind, possibly benefitting from the ongoing selling in natural gas futures although those showed some signs of life on Tuesday.
In the background, analysts at Bank of America had slashed their forecast for Dutch TTF natural gas prices in 2023 from €110/MWh to €70/MWh.
Fund managers at Pictet meanwhile reportedly saw scope for further downside in gas prices.
Utilities also caught a bid as longer-term UK Gilt yields slipped.
As an aside capping the advance on London’s top-flight index, the pound continued to push up against its 50-week moving average.
Linked to the above, economists at Pantheon Macroeconomics penned a note to clients in which they mused that the UK labour market was not loosening quickly enough for the Monetary Policy Committee to slow down and raise Bank Rate by only 25 basis points in February.
Precious Metals and Mining was the top loser on the FTSE 350, amid slight profit-taking in gold and silver futures after their recent sharp run higher.
Top performing sectors so far today
Automobiles & Parts 1,563.57 +1.87%
Beverages 28,648.45 +1.68%
Electricity 10,598.06 +1.51%
Retailers 3,391.87 +1.23%
Gas, Water & Multiutilities 5,882.67 +1.19%
Bottom performing sectors so far today
Precious Metals and Mining 11,941.41 -1.84%
Leisure Goods 23,058.64 -1.65%
Household Goods & Home Construction 11,445.67 -1.47%
Personal Goods 34,512.23 -1.40%
Personal Care, Drug and Grocery Stores 4,222.91 -1.18%
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