FTSE 100 live: London hits record at open as market goes from strength-to-strength

The latest updates on the FTSE 100 and London’s financial markets from City A.M.’s newsroom in the heart of the City of London.

Overnight, the US S&P 500 edged up by 0.87 per cent to hit 5,010.60, while the Nasdaq Composite surged by 1.11 per cent, reaching 15,451.31.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average also joined the upward trend, rising by 0.67 per cent to hit 38,239.98.  

Big players like Alphabet, Amazon.com, and Apple saw modest gains ranging from 0.5 per cent to 1.5 per cent, while Nvidia bounced back with a 4.4 per cent increase after a recent dip. 

Tesla, however, didn’t fare as well, experiencing its seventh consecutive decline with a 3.4 per cent drop ahead of its upcoming earnings report on Tuesday. 

In Asia, markets generally followed Wall Street’s lead with Taiwan and Hong Kong both showing positive momentum, rising by 1 per cent and 0.8 per cent respectively. Japan’s Nikkei remained steady, but Chinese shares faced a slight setback, with blue chips losing 0.6 per cent. 

The dollar remained strong, showing a nearly 5 per cent gain for the year, with the latest trade hovering around 106.09. 

Oil prices showed signs of recovery from previous losses amid ongoing assessments of the Middle East situation. Brent futures climbed by 0.4 per cent to $87.35 a barrel, while US crude also gained 0.4 per cent to reach $82.24 a barrel. 

Gold prices, however, experienced a decline of 0.74 per cent, reaching $2,309.14 per ounce following a significant overnight slump of 2.7 per cent.  

Meanwhile, in the realm of cryptocurrencies, bitcoin saw a slight increase of 0.51 per cent, reaching $66,879.00. 

On Monday, the FTSE 100 reached a record high of 8023.87 points, driven by rate cut expectations. 

Interest rate futures now expect the Bank of England to cut rates by August, possibly twice by year-end, indicating a quicker easing timeline compared to last week. 

As it opened on Tuesday, FTSE hit a new record soaring to 8,066.39 just after 8am. Markets will be keeping a close eye on how high it can go.

New figures showed the government borrowed a total of £120.7bn in the 2024 financial year. While this was £7.6bn less than last year and around a third of what was borrowed during the pandemic, it was still £6.6bn more than the Office for Budget Responsibility’s (OBR) March forecasts.

Conversely, the US Federal Reserve’s first rate cut is anticipated in September, with a projected total easing of 40 basis points for the year, far less than the initially expected 150 basis points. 

China created 3.03 million new urban jobs in Q1, according to a Ministry of Human Resources representative. They noted stable overall employment. China aims for 12 million urban jobs by 2024.  

Conversely, a Chinese bubble tea company’s shares fell 30 per cent on their first day on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. 

Japan’s manufacturing sector edged closer to break-even in April, with the PMI rising to 49.9 from 48.2 in March. Despite remaining below the growth threshold of 50.0 for the 11th straight month, it’s the closest it’s been to break-even since June.