IAG shares rose 5% this morning to 600.17p as the owner of British Airways and Iberia revealed a 10% surge in operating profits – hitting €170m – for the first quarter of 2017. The new numbers appear impressive given that the first quarter is traditionally slow for the airline.
M&S reveals new chairman meanwhile oil prices stumble to a five-month low
A small uptick for the FTSE 100 on Thursday: the Big Board ended 15 points higher at 7,248.10, up 0.2% with the FTSE 250 finishing 2.58 points down at 19,680. Travel fared well with British Airways owner IAG and TUI AG up 2.97% and 2.92% respectively.
The FTSE 100 finished at 7,234.53 at close of Wednesday while the Dow ended the day at 20,957.9, up eight points. Gold was down -0.99% to $1,236.40 while WTI oil finished -0.42% lower at $47.63.
Global shares were broadly up on Tuesday: the Dow Jones finished 0.17% higher at 20,949.89 while the Nasdaq climbed 0.06% to 6,095.37. In London the FTSE 100 finished at 7,250, up 46 points while the German Dax was up 0.56% to 12,507.90. The French CAC 40 pushed 0.70% higher to 5,304.15.
End of Tuesday trading saw the FTSE 100 close 45.68 points higher at 7,250.05, a 0.64% climb in total. Best FTSE 100 performer was Intertek Group, up 3.3% to 4,200p while Standard Life and Barratt Developments took second and third spots, up 2.78% and 2.67%.
Global share trading was light for the May Day holiday though US shares on Monday showed energy: Apple shares were up more than 2% to $146.58. Other tech companies, including Microsoft and Facebook, also gained strongly. The Nasdaq hit a record 6,091.6 high.
