FTSE 100 watch: Footsie set for hefty quarterly drop despite last-minute rally

The FTSE 100 bounced back yesterday, boosted by retailers and mining giant Glencore.

The broader FTSE 350 mining index was up 3.2 percent and the materials sector, which contains FTSE 100 mining stocks, added 6.1 points to the benchmark index. The Stoxx 600 gained 2.5%, Germany’s DAX 30 closed 2.2% higher and France’s CAC 40 index was up over 2.5.

Shares pulled back a little at the start of London trading on Tuesday, with Glencore up 5.92 percent at 72.68 pence.

The supermarket jumped 14.5% to 262.6p after management said it expected 2015-16 profits to be higher than expectations of £548 million.

Over all this quarter has been shadowed by events that prevented the markets from flourishing, from the rate hike uncertainty in the USA, the Euro Zones standoff with Greece, the unclear picture of China’s current state and growth prospects and the cherry on the cake, the emissions scandal that shaved 50BN in market value within a week.

Fiat Chrysler climbed 4.78 percent in Milan, even as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said the automaker did not fully report death and injury claims for an unspecified time period in its early-warning report data that the company is to submit to regulators under federal law.

Wolseley shares were the worst performers in the FTSE 100, dropping 13.3 percent after the company lowered its revenue growth outlook.

Among stocks, Sainsbury’s saw its shares soar by 14 per cent or 31.7p to 261p after it said full-year profits would now be “moderately” ahead of City expectations after narrowing sales declines in its second quarter. The stocks increased 6 and 7 percent respectively. The optimism has lifted the rest of the sector, with Morrisons 9.2p better at 165.3p and Tesco 8.35p higher at 179.65p. According to figures released by MNI Indicators, the Chicago Purchasing Managers’ Index slumped from 54.4 in August to 48.7 in September and below the 50 threshold that indicates expansion. The announcement brought calm to many a market.

Nationwide said house prices rose 0.5 per cent month-on-month in September, slightly more than economists had expected and up from 0.4 per cent in August. Economists had been expecting the business barometer to show a much more modest decrease to a reading of 53.6, which would have still indicated growth.

Elsewhere in the top-flight, supermarkets were ahead after a note from Bernstein analyst Bruno Monteyne on latest results from Aldi showing that despite strong sales growth its profits had fallen amid the sector’s price war.

But the grocery chain still posted a 1.1 per cent drop in like-for-like second-quarter sales, excluding fuel – its seventh quarter of falling sales in a row.