MONDAY MARKET CLOSE : Recovering Tesco leads way for FTSE

Two of the country’s biggest supermarkets occupied opposite ends of the FTSE 100 Index today as investors put their faith in a recovery by the sector’s leading player while nerves jangled over its smaller rival’s trading update this week.

Shares in Tesco moved higher on hopes that the worst may be over after a series of dismal sales figures. Picture: TSPL

Shares in Tesco moved higher on hopes that the worst may be over after a series of dismal sales figures and an accounting black hole. They rose nearly 5 per cent, by 8.4p to 192.9p, as the company notched up the strongest performance among the UK’s biggest listed companies and helped the FTSE 100 to a rise of 44.01 points to 6,611.25.

Rival Morrisons was also ahead, up 2.2p to 170.6p, but there were contrasting fortunes at Sainsbury’s, which led the fallers’ board with a 3 per cent drop, down 6.9p to 254.7p. The dip came ahead of its interim results this week which are expected to show a profits drop amid speculation that it will cut its dividend following a strategic review of the business.

World markets had a solid start to the week as investors focused on a strengthening US economy as well as the prospect of a fresh shot of stimulus measures for the moribund eurozone.

Germany’s Dax and France’s Cac 40 were both ahead while New York’s Dow Jones Industrial Average was in positive territory at the time of the close in London.

On currency markets, sterling edged slightly lower against the strengthening greenback at just below $1.59 but improved a little against the single currency – amid the speculation about more stimulus – at just under €1.28.

The biggest risers in the FTSE 100 also included TUI Travel, up 12.2p to 411.9p and British Airways parent company International Airlines Group, which rose 11.3p to 413.9p.

The biggest fallers included Admiral, down 20p to 1,195p, and Randgold Resources, down 46p at 4,086p.