FTSE Moves: London market gains ground after Fed rate hike jitters wane

Blue chip shares recover some ground after losing more than £25bn yesterday.

FTSE dragged lower by mining stocks — London's main benchmark lifted after sharp falls in the previous session Reuters

The London market made gains in afternoon trading after suffering a sharp fall in yesterday's session as fears of a US interest rate rise receded.

The FTSE 100 Index lifted 18.1 points to 6719, after falling by more than 100 points on Monday when traders were spooked by the prospects of a US rate rise later this year. Cheap cash favours investors. The FTSE 250 rose 59.8 points to 177790.1.

A speech overnight by Federal Reserve governor Lael Brainard was taken to mean the Fed will pull back from hiking interest rates at its 20-21 September policy meeting.

Trustnet Direct market analyst Tony Scott said: "Sentiment over the forthcoming interest rate meeting by the Federal Reserve will continue to dominate the agenda and any fresh hints that a hike could be on the cards this month would likely serve to unsettle markets on a global basis."

In the second tier, JD Sports Fashion reported a 73% year-on-year increase in profit before taxes to £77.41m ($102.82m). This record profit was for the six months to 30 July period and comes amid an increased demand for its sports fashion products. Shares rose 68p to 1401p.

In afternoon trading the biggest risers in the FTSE 100 Index were Carnival (+84p to 3456p), Burberry (+25p to 1287p), Schroders (+52p to 2735p), Hargreaves Lansdown (+23p to 1352p) and London Stock Exchange (+46p to2709p).

The biggest fallers in the FTSE 100 Index were Associated British Foods (-55p to 2760p), Intu Properties (-5p to 290.4p), Provident Financial (-45p to 2931p), British Land (-9.5p to 636.5p) and EasyJet (-15p to 1137p).

In afternoon trading the biggest risers in the FTSE 250 Index were JD Sports (+68p to 1401p), Allied Minds (+11p to 331.2p), HarbourVest (+31.5p to 988.5p), Assura (+1.8p to 59.4p) and Synthomer (+9.5p to 355.5p).

The biggest fallers in the FTSE 250 Index were Ocado (-44.1p to 278p), CYBG (-12.1p to 259.8p), Entertainment One (-7.5p to 206.5p), Pendragon (-1.1p to 31.9p) and Circassia Pharmaceuticals (-2.6p to 92.7p).

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