Frasers Group Plc

“Having seen a rapid retreat from the briefly attained 9,000 mark earlier this week, the FTSE 100 made steady progress on Thursday to put this milestone level back within reach,” says AJ Bell Investment Analyst Dan Coatsworth. “Financial stocks were among the gainers, while specialist distributor Diploma led the way as it lifted its full-year target for organic growth. “A mixed and messy set of UK jobs numbers saw the pound make some modest progress.

“Central banks are in a ‘wait and see’ mood with regards to interest rates, despite broad concerns about a weaker economic outlook,” says Russ Mould, Investment Director at AJ Bell. “The Fed kept US rates unchanged at its meeting yesterday and the Bank of England is expected to do the same with UK rates later today.

“The FTSE 100 held firm at the start of the new trading week as investors continued to wait for trade talk updates,” says AJ Bell Investment Director Russ Mould. “Miners were higher despite weak data from China as the impact of the trade tensions between the world’s second largest economy and the US was laid bare. Exports to America plunged and there was evidence of continuing deflationary pressures in the latest consumer and factory gate price data.