The Hang Seng is once again at the centre of all the action on the stock market with a 2.3% jump to 19,900. Much of the gains were down to ongoing optimism around more relaxed Covid restrictions which might lead to greater economic activity
Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: “Real estate and tech stocks were in demand as investors sifted through the pack looking for names that have been particularly weak this year, hoping they would be among the stock market leaders if we do see a sustainable rally in Chinese shares.
“Also providing some relief to investors was new inflation data which didn’t contain any nasty surprises. China’s consumer price index dropped to 1.6% in November year-on-year versus 2.1% in October. Producer prices fell 1.3%, representing the second month in a row of declining factory gate prices.
“The FTSE 100 slipped 0.1% to 7,462 with strength in consumer cyclicals and utilities offset by weakness in energy stocks.
“It’s been a while since Ocado graced the top of the FTSE risers yet today it managed to claim such a victory. With no news flow or broker upgrades to power the shares, it seems as if investors were simply regaining their appetite for riskier parts of the market that had been heavily sold down this year.
“Ocado reportedly told analysts earlier this month that it would scale back growth plans for more automated distribution centres and that it wouldn’t sell its share of a joint venture with Marks & Spencer to raise new funds.”
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