IlluMyFi

{{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The attack on Houthi forces by the US and UK militaries overnight and a better-than-expected economic performance for the country's economy were credited with lifting the FTSE 100 on Friday. The index, which has so far had a poor start to the year, rose 48.34 points, or 0.64%, to end the day at 7,624.93. It was a rise dominated by mining companies, top among them Endeavour Mining, which owns several gold mines across Africa. Its performance was boosted by the uncertainty caused by the hostilities in the Middle East where US and UK planes struck dozens of targets in Yemen. That caused investors to put their money in assets which are considered safe, such as gold. The Houthis had been striking ships going through the Red Sea on the way to the Suez Canal. "Rising oil prices following the bombing of Houthi military targets by the US and UK in Yemen and a better-than-forecast expansion of month-on-month UK GDP growth helped the FTSE 100 to a positive close on Friday," said Axel Rudolph, senior market analyst at online trading platform IG. The UK figures on Friday morning showed that gross domestic product rose 0.3% in November, higher than the 0.2% expected by economists. Mr Rudolph added: "European equity indices also fared better than their US counterparts as these were dragged down by disappointing bank earnings and job cut announcements by Citibank on the first day of the fourth quarter earnings season. "They recovered amid an unexpected fall in US producer prices, though." At the end of the day in Europe Frankfurt's Dax index rose 0.95%, while the Cac 40 in Paris had closed up 1.05%. In New York a little while after markets had closed in Europe the S&P 500 was trading down 0.16%, while the Dow Jones was 0.56% lower. On currency markets the pound was trading 0.18% lower against the dollar at 1.2738 and had dropped 0.04% against the euro at 1.1628. In company news it was a bad day for Burberry with shares down 5.66% on the news that a slowdown in demand got worse in December. The business slashed its profit forecast for the year as it said that revenue dropped 7% in the last three months of the year. Meanwhile Vistry, a housebuilder, said it had built 16,124 new homes last year, down 5.4% from 2022. It said pre-tax profit would be somewhere close to £418 million, more than previously thought. Shares closed up 0.36%. The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Endeavour Mining, up 54p to 1,479p, JD Sports, up 4.15p to 114.45p, Fresnillo, up 15.8p to 533.4p, Antofagasta, up 48p to 1,636p, and Rolls-Royce, up 8p to 305p. The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were Burberry, down 75p to 1,285.5p, IAG, down 4.25p to 144.35p, Centrica, down 2.35p to 150p, Informa, down 11p to 754.6p, and Ocado, down 9.2p to 652.2p.

Sentiment

Bearish/Bullish

13.01.24 11:34

by independent.co.uk

Ed Davey facing general election challenge from former Post Office worker

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey will be challenged in his constituency at the general election by a former Post Office worker who is demanding justice for all those affected by the Horizon scandal. Yvonne Tracey, who spent three decades at the Post Office, said Sir Ed, who served as postal affairs minister from 2010 to 2012, can't be allowed to stand again "unchallenged" in his southwest London seat of Kingston and Surbiton, where she lives. Sir Davey, who has faced calls to resign over the hundreds of sub-postmasters and sub-postmistresses who were wrongly held responsible for accounting errors created by faulty software, earlier this week said he "deeply regretted" not getting to the bottom of the scandal but refused to apologise. Conservative ministers have accused Mr Davey, who said he had been lied to repeatedly on an "industrial scale" by the Post Office, of not asking the right questions. Ms Tracey, a 68-year-old grandmother, told Sky News those affected by the scandal are "still not hearing the truth", adding that the recent ITV drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office, which brought the affairs back into the public spotlight, made her "very sad" and "very angry". Sir Ed initially refused to meet sub-postmaster Alan Bates, whom the ITV drama is named after, saying in a short letter that it "wouldn't serve any purpose". He met Mr Bates later and he was the first minister on public record to do so. A sub-postmaster who ran a post office in Sir Ed's constituency lost his home, his business and attempted to take his own life on more than one occasion after being caught up in the scandal, Ms Tracey, who waselected to Kingston Council in 2022 and represents the local residents' group, said. "He tried three times to get in touch with Sir Ed and every time he was turned away, refused or ignored," she added. The Liberal Democrats said the sub-postmaster lived outside Sir Ed's constituency and parliamentary convention meant he was therefore unable to get involved in the case. On Wednesday prime minister Rishi Sunak announced new legislation to exonerate wrongly convicted Post Office branch managers after one of the worst miscarriages of justice in British history. The prime minister also said there would be a new upfront payment of £75,000 for some of those affected. Mr Sunak said a new law would be introduced so people wrongly convicted in the Horizon scandal are "swiftly exonerated and compensated''. He told the Commons: "This is one of the greatest miscarriages of justice in our nation's history. "People who worked hard to serve their communities had their lives and their reputations destroyed through absolutely no fault of their own. The victims must get justice and compensation."