It’s always welcome to see green figures flashing on the screen rather than red ones, and that’s what we had on Friday with gains from the FTSE 100 in the UK, the DAX in Germany, the CAC 40 in France and the IBEX 35 in Spain.
Flutter Entertainment took the top slot among the FTSE risers, with the shares jumping after the company said there were no signs of consumers betting less – something the market had been fearing given the cost-of-living crisis. This reinforces the idea that people will be happy to keep betting in the hope of winning big during more difficult economic times.
“Next week’s diary has plenty of things to keep investors on their toes, even though a lot of people will be sitting on the beach rather than staring at their share price charts,” said Danni Hewson, financial analyst at AJ Bell.
“Tuesday brings the latest UK jobs figures, followed a day later by inflation numbers. Then on Friday we have the latest insights into UK consumer confidence. All of these figures on the state of the UK economy have the potential to influence share price movements.
“If Flutter says the cost-of-living crisis hasn’t dented gambling demand, investors will be hoping the same applies for luxury goods. Watches of Switzerland gives its latest numbers on Tuesday and this could be a make-or-break update. Its typical customer is affluent and may be less affected by the rising cost of living. However, there have been reports of weakness in the Chinese luxury goods market which has a negative read-across to the UK and US where Watches of Switzerland is focused.”
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