The Bank of England will provide its latest view of inflationary pressures today. It is unlikely to make any drastic changes to its current policy at this stage, but market watchers will be looking for any signs as it when it could start reducing quantitative easing and raise interest rates.
Mining, industrials and financials were the key sectors catching investors’ attention on the UK market, with Rio Tinto, Ashtead and HSBC among the top movers.
A decision to ban junk food advertising online and before 9pm on TV from 2023 should in theory be negative for various UK stocks including ITV, Just Eat and Deliveroo but investors in these stocks shrugged off the news, expected to be confirmed by ministers today.
Advertising is a crucial source of income for ITV and its clients include many companies that sell products that fall under the ‘junk food’ banner, although they will still be allowed to promote their brand before 9pm on TV and online, just not specific junk food products. Just Eat and Deliveroo are also heavy advertisers and they will have to rethink their promotions to get round the rules.
Elsewhere, GlaxoSmithKline struggled to hang on to the gains it enjoyed yesterday, spurred by an investor day explaining its plans to spin off the consumer business, the details of which helped to make up for negative news of a dividend cut. [GSK slipped 0.1% today]
Analysts had already been expecting a reduction to GlaxoSmithKline’s dividend and the cost savings will be funnelled into research and development for new drugs, which ultimately could help drive earnings in the future.
