By Patrick Munnelly, Market Analyst, Tickmill
The FTSE 100 was attracting buyers at pivotal support ahead of 7800, ending the session on 7831.58.
FTSE100 biggest movers
As banking concern in the US start to assuage, UK heavyweight Barclays LON:BARC delivered a robust set of figures for Q1 exceeding expectations, led by a big uptick in currency, commodities and fixed income trading desks all of which delivered to the top line beat, the business benefited from their diversified portfolio of activities, the earnings beat was accompanied by an unchanged outlook for the fiscal year ahead, investors rewarded the performance with a +5.3% return on the day leaving the banking stalwart sitting at the top of the index as the shares sit at their best levels since early March.
Offsetting the buoyancy in Barclays earnings was the wealth manager St James’s Place LON:STJ -3.7%+ who are competing for bottom spot on the day, out of the gate investors hit the sell button as the firm failed to deliver on earnings, investor flows disappointed missing consensus by 9% as withdrawals, maturities and surrenders all retreated, the decline is seen as a return to historical levels, the decline in investor flows was partly attributed to cost of living concerns which remain a dominant narrative for UK investors and consumers, however, the wealth managers performance is not idiosyncratic as the sector as a whole has witnessed declines of circa 13/14%.
Legal & General LON:LGEN are pipping St James’s to the bottom spot as shares trade with losses exceeding 7.1% on the session.
