London shares rise in wake of Wall Street

The London Stock Exchange was rather calm yesterday, as investors awaited news about the US debt ceiling talks on Tuesday. President Biden later said “there was an overwhelming consensus” that defaulting on the debt is not an option. Tech stocks were the biggest gainers led by Sage Group, which posted strong results and guidance.

Optimism about the US debt situation pushed global markets in the green and the FTSE 100 was up 0.5% this morning.

This is despite BT Group falling 8.9% after it posted disappointing results and said it expects to cut up to 55,000 jobs by 2030.

Burberry Group posted stronger-than-expected fourth-quarter revenues, but its shares still tumbled 6.4% as the market expected more from the luxury fashion brand given the strength of the luxury sector.

Things to read today:

Brussels agrees to sign regulatory co-operation deal with the UK (Financial Times)

The EU's grab for the swaps market poses a systemic risk (Bloomberg)