FTSE climbs back above 7,100, GBP higher, Oil rallies By Investing.com

Key Points

• FTSE 100 closing price of 7123.11, +1.31%
• Travel stocks boost FTSE
• GBP strong despite soft GDP
• Oil jumps
• Bitcoin reclaims $33,000

By Samuel Indyk

Investing.com – The FTSE 100 reclaimed much of Thursday’s losses to close back above 7,100 after briefly dropping below 7,000 in yesterday’s trading session.

Travel stocks were trading higher after a number of them reported a surge in bookings since the UK government eased some travel restriction. Transport Secretary Grant Shapps on Wednesday announced that UK passengers would not have to self isolate when they return from ‘amber’ list countries, such as Spain, France or Italy. EasyJet (LON:EZJ) said it had seen bookings jump 400% since the announcement.

Miners were also strong, retracing Thursday’s losses as base metals prices jumped. Copper Futures were trading higher by over 2% and miners such as Anglo American (LON:AAL), BHP Group (LON:BHPB), Glencore (LON:GLEN) and Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) benefitted from the positive risk tone.

Shares in Vectura Group (LON:VEC) jumped after the pharmaceutical company agreed to be taken over by cigarette maker Philip Morris (NYSE:PM) for £1.05bln.

GBP was strong despite softer than expected GDP growth in the UK in May. GDP grew 0.8% compared to April versus expectations of 1.5%.

“Overall, it looks like June will have to be very strong (3%) to meet the Bank of England’s Q2 forecast for 5.5%,” said analysts at Lloyds (LON:LLOY) in a research note.

Heading into the London fix, GBP/USD pared gains which saw the pair drop around 40 pips towards 1.3830.

Brent and WTI prices were firmer as markets digest the latest OPEC+ non-decision and delayed US inventory data. On Thursday the EIA said crude inventories had declined more than expected as demand reached its highest level since 2019.

The lack of a decision from the OPEC+ group earlier in the week means both major crude benchmarks are set to end the week with losses.

The price of Bitcoin showed signs of stabilising and reclaimed the $33,000 level despite calls for a drop as low as $15,000. Speaking on CNBC, Guggenheim’s Scott Minerd said the world’s largest cryptocurrency could extend its slide even further, after previously calling for Bitcoin to halve earlier in the year.

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