Monday saw gains in London's major equity indexes for a second straight week, supported by the U.S. jobs data, which helped allay concerns about a downturn in the world's largest economy.
FTSE 100 Movers
The FTSE 100 kicked off the week with a positive sentiment, increasing the index price by 0.5%. Meanwhile, the mid-cap FTSE 250 followed suit, gaining almost 0.3% in a day. Both indexes were up from the commodity-linked shares, while the ease of US recession fear and Middle East conflict was a confluence factor.
The week saw significant volatility on global markets as investors unwound yen carry transactions due to worries of a U.S. recession after the release of July jobs data and a spike in the yen's value following the Bank of Japan's interest rate hike on July 31.
After Bellway (LON: BWY), along with competitors, provided an optimistic assessment of the industry's adhering to the Bank of England's velocity reduction and the newly elected Labor government's suggested planning modifications, homebuilders were among the top buyers in London, rising 1.5%.
Among FTSE 100 gainers, British Communication Company (BT) faced an 8.43% increase after having a deal with Bharti Enterprise.
Data To Look At
Investors will be closely watching the consumer price inflation reports from the US and the UK and the UK's second-quarter GDP numbers, making next week an important one.
On Tuesday, investors will see the labor data for the UK, where the current expectation is a 4.5% increase, up from 4.4% in the previous month. Also, the Claimant count could come significantly lower at 14.5K, down from 32.2K, which could be a key price driver for the UK stocks.
In the US, the inflation data will show how the US economy is heading, where no change is expected in the monthly CPI, which is currently at 3.0%.
FTSE 100 CEO Pay Reached A Record High
The usual chief executive of the top 100 listed companies in the UK earns more than 100 times the average full-time employee in Britain, marking these executives' highest compensation increase in history.
The cost of necessities has forced millions of households to reduce their spending. Still, according to the High Pay Centre research, the average salary for a FTSE 100 chief executive climbed from £4.1 million in 2022 to £4.19 million in 2023.
Although chief executive pay growth was less rapid than in the previous two years following the peak of the Covid pandemic, the campaign group claimed this was the highest rate on record.
AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot topped the FTSE 100 list of highest-paid executives for a second year, taking home £16.85 million, up from £15.3 million in 2022.
FTSE 100 Index Technical Analysis
In the daily chart of FTSE 100, a stable bullish trend is visible, where the current price shows a buying pressure after forming a solid bottom at the 7910.77 level. As a result, the price moved above the 50% Fibonacci Retracement level from the 8487.59 high to 7910.77 swing, suggesting a confluence of bullish factors.
In the broader context, the 200-day Simple Moving Average is below the current price and is working as a major support. Moreover, the 50-day Exponential Moving Average is the immediate support from where a bullish daily candle is visible.
Based on this outlook, a bullish continuation with a daily candle above the 8283.08 level could resume the ongoing market trend, aiming for the 8500.00 level.
On the other hand, the bearish reversal from the 8280.00 to 8400.00 zone could extend the correction before forming another bullish continuation.
