FTSE 100 Muted

London: 1 November 2023 (TraderMade): London's FTSE 100 showed limited movement on Wednesday, as robust performances from pharmaceutical company GSK and retailer Next Plc, which raised their full-year profit forecasts, were offset by declines in energy and mining stocks.

The FTSE 100 index held steady at 7327 by 10:36 GMT, with the mid-cap FTSE 250 down 0.1%, ending a three-day winning streak. A 0.9% gain in the pharmaceutical and biotech sector and a 1.1% rise in the retailer index positively impacted the index.

Losses in precious metal and industrial metal miners, along with declining gold and copper prices, impacted the market. Additionally, oil and gas shares dipped by 0.8%. The automobiles and parts index experienced a significant 3.8% decline, mainly due to a 15.1% drop in Aston Martin shares.

In a separate development, data revealed an unexpected 1% increase in British house prices for October. However, this surge is attributed more to a shortage of homes for sale than a reversal of the market's challenges posed by rising borrowing costs.

Experts believe that the current scenario seems surprisingly good for the housing sector. However, the market has not yet seen the impact of BoE interest rate hikes.