Closing summary
Time to recap…
Apple’s market valuation has jumped over the $3 trillion mark again as shares in the US tech giant hit a fresh record today.
Inflation has cooled in the eurozone, and in the US, fuelling hopes that central bank interest rate increases could end this summer.
Economists fear that the UK economy could slide into recession this year, despite GDP growing slightly over the winter.
UK house prices have fallen at the fastest annual rate since 2009 this month, despite a small rise in June.
John Lewis has defended a plan to build homes to rent as the group files planning applications for projects in west and south-east London.
British Gas has said household energy bills are likely to remain high for the foreseeable future as wholesale market prices remain at more than double the normal level.
Heathrow has appointed Thomas Woldbye as the new chief executive of Europe’s busiest airport, tasking him with repairing relations with airlines and reviving controversial expansion plans.
Updated
FTSE 100 ends weak H1 with gains
Back in the City, the FTSE 100 has ended June on the front foot.
The blue-chip index has jumped by 0.8% today, or 60 points, to close at 7531 points.
This means the FTSE 100 has gained just over 1% so far this year, as it missed out on the global stock market rally.
Since the start of January, Germany’s DAX has gained 16%, France’s CAC is up 14.5%, while the tech-focused Nasdaq has surged by over 30%.
Victoria Scholar, head of investment at Interactive Investor, explains:
Miners have fared worst on the FTSE 100 with Fresnillo, Anglo American and Glencore at the bottom of the leaderboard following China’s bumpier than expected recovery out of Covid.
Bucking the trend and stemming a steeper slide has been Rolls Royce which is this year’s star performer so far, up over 50%. Last month its new CEO Tufan Erginbilgic said its turnaround plan is moving ‘at pace.’
US tech has enjoyed an incredible H1. The Nasdaq 100 is on track for best first half in its 52-year history. Nvidia was the star performer surging more than 180 percent thanks to this year’s buzz around artificial intelligence. Meta and Tesla also sky-rocketed by over 100 percent. And Palo Alto, ADM and Amazon also logged impressive percentage gains, landing them among the top gainers. This marks a turnaround from last year’s ‘tech-wreck’ when the sector was hit hard by rising inflation and interest rates.
