UK shares rose on Tuesday as travel stocks rallied on a surprisingly strong update from TUI (TUI) and hopes that the coronavirus may reach its peak in Wuhan this month thanks to the Chinese government’s ‘lockdown’ of the city.
The FTSE 100 index gained 0.7% to 7,502 points led by holiday firm TUI which said improved bookings for winter holidays in its first quarter would help offset the impact on its profits of Boeing grounding its 737 MAX aircraft.
The firm went on to say that ‘provided the current strong trading trends for our Markets & Airlines business continue, we are now expecting a high single digit percentage turnover growth.’ It previously expected mid to high single digit percentage growth.
TUI shares climbed 12% to 960p, pulling with them shares in rivals International Consolidated Airlines (IAG), which owns British Airways, and Easyjet (EZJ), which both gained 3%.
Online retailer Ocado (OCDO) gained 0.8% to £12.27 after reporting a 9.9% rise in revenues for the year to 1 December despite the impact of a fire at its Andover warehouse.
For the current year the firm sees UK retail revenues growing between 10% and 15% and Solutions fees from its international customers rising by 40% or more after a 38% increase last year.
Shares in betting firm William Hill (WMH) jumped 3.8% to 185p as it announced a deal with US broadcaster CBS Sports making it the official sports book and wagering data provider.
The UK bookmaker will receive exclusive rights to market its brand across CSB Sports’ range of digital offerings including CBS Sports Fantasy which is one of the largest fantasy platforms in the world.
Footwear retailer JD Sports Fashion (JD.) issued a rebuttal of the Competition and markets Authority’s (CMA) view that its acquisition of Footasylum could limit competition and lead to ‘fewer discounts and less choice in stores and online.’ Shares rose 3.1% to 872p.
Shares in food producer Cranswick (CWK) continued their impressive run, adding another 1.1% to £36.86 on the news that it had acquired a leading pig farming business taking its self-sufficiency in UK pigs processed to more than 30%.
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