London shares rose strongly at the start of the new year, but the pound dropped against the dollar, as rail strikes threatened the UK economy and weak economic data from China raised concerns about global demand.
The FTSE 100 index opened up 133.78 points, 1.8%, at 7,585.52. The FTSE 250 was up 295.61 points, 1.6%, at 19,148.61, and the AIM All-Share was up 7.28 points, 0.9%, at 838.61.
The Cboe UK 100 was up 1.5% at 758.15, the Cboe UK 250 was up 1.4% at 16,599.17, and the Cboe Small Companies was up 0.5% at 13,299.65.
The UK stock market was catching up to gains made in Europe, which traded on Monday. The CAC 40 in Paris was up 0.6% and the DAX 40 in Frankfurt up 0.8% early Tuesday. The indices had closed up 1.9% and 1.1%, respectively, on Monday.
‘With numerous jurisdictions still out yesterday – US, UK, Japan – Europe‘??s first session of 2023 saw all boats rise together with both safe havens and risky assets entering the new year on the front foot,’ commented Rabobank. ‘Given the understandably quietened nature of the markets, however, it is hard to pinpoint…
