FTSE Caps Its Strongest Month Since February
The FTSE 100 ended July with its best monthly performance since February, up around 3.5 per cent over the month even after slipping slightly on Friday. London’s blue-chip index has repeatedly touched record highs in recent days, lifted by energy and defence shares amid the turmoil in the Middle East. The gains offer a rare bright spot for pension savers and investors.
The market’s strength has sat oddly against a backdrop of war and economic uncertainty, a reminder that share prices and the wider mood do not always move together. Higher oil prices have boosted the index’s heavyweight energy companies, while the prospect of rising defence budgets has lifted arms manufacturers. Government bonds and gold weakened as investors grew more willing to take on risk, with the ten-year gilt yield climbing back above 5 per cent. Whether the rally endures depends on the oil price and the course of the war. Watch how markets fare if the fighting escalates again.