Archived article
Please note that tax, investment, pension and ISA rules can change and the information and any views contained in this article may now be inaccurate.
UK stock market: FTSE 100
“The UK stock market has effectively gone nowhere in the past two months, much to the frustration of investors who are desperate to find ways to generate returns better than the feeble rates paid on cash deposit accounts,” says Russ Mould, Investment Director at AJ Bell.
“The FTSE 100 on Friday managed a 0.3% gain to 7,686 yet that puts the market almost exactly at the same point at which it started 2018. The market’s rally between March and May simply made up for territory lost in the early part of the year.
“If you think zero gains from the headline index is bad, spare a thought for investors in Micro Focus, Standard Life Aberdeen and Fresnillo as all three FTSE 100 companies have seen their share price fall by more than 25% so far this year.
“The best place to have parked your money in the FTSE 100 year-to-date would have been Ocado (up 182%), Evraz (up 65%) and Sky (up 50%).
“Many people will now be going on their summer holiday so there is a chance the market could continue to drift near-term if trading volumes are thin, although there are some very big companies reporting next week which could have a major influence over the direction of the market, such as BP, Lloyds and Barclays.
“And we all know that it can only take a single line from US President Donald Trump to heavily influence the direction of stock markets around the world, should he say something linked to economics, trade or a specific industry sector.”
Rightmove
“Half year results from online property portal Rightmove are a good reminder that it can still make very good money even when the housing market starts to weaken. However, the bigger question is for how long it can keep growing earnings at such a fast pace.
“The latest performance shows a resilient business. If houses aren’t selling then estate agents often spend more money on premium spots on Rightmove’s website to help certain homes stand out.
“So far any cracks in the property market haven’t fed through to its numbers. The important metrics in its results are the number of members, UK residential properties advertised on its system, web traffic and average revenue per advertiser. All of them have gone up versus the same period a year ago.
“But this is a business which clearly cannot afford to be complacent. For example, membership numbers only grew by a mere 0.5% over the past 12 months to 20,450 agents and developers.
“Its competitors OnTheMarket and Zoopla are getting stronger, so Rightmove will have to think up new ways to engage with its clients and extract more money from them. It will also have to create new ways to help consumers in their quest to find suitable properties. Another possible route could be to expand interests into other industry sectors.”
These articles are for information purposes only and are not a personal recommendation or advice