UK Shares Hold Near Peaks as Services Sector Displays Enduring Expansion

UK Stocks Regain Ground as Next Reaches All-Time High

On Thursday, January 4th, the FTSE 100 rebounded by 0.5% to surpass 7720, recovering from two consecutive sessions of losses. Notably, energy shares performed well, with BP’s stocks increasing by 0.5% after terminating their agreement with Equinor for supplying power to New York state from the offshore wind farm, Empire Wind 2. Meanwhile, British clothing retailer Next achieved a remarkable surge of 5%, reaching a record high, and raised its annual profit outlook. In contrast, JD Sports Fashion experienced a significant downturn of 23%, hitting a two-month low, as the sportswear retailer revised down its full-year profit forecast. In economic news, UK consumer borrowing expanded by a net £2.0 billion in November 2023, marking the highest since March 2017 and surpassing the expected £1.4 billion rise. Additionally, loans for home purchases totaled 50.1K, surpassing forecasts. Lastly, the final PMI survey revealed that Britain’s services output in December grew more robustly than initially estimated, reaching a seven-month high in optimism.

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