The FTSE 100 rose a little after the Bank of England raised interest rates by a quarter-point to 0.75 per cent. The index, which had closed up 1.6 per cent yesterday, rose 27 points, or 0.4 per cent, to 7,319 and the FTSE 250 dipped 2 points to 20,898.69.
The decision was expected came amid another round of corporate updates. This time Ocado proved the most disapointing as it slashed its growth expectations for its retail arm after reporting that sales dropped in the first quarter of the year as shoppers returned to pre-pandemic habits. It stumbled to the bottom of the blue-chip index, with the shares falling 96½p, or 7.9 per cent, to £11.08. The update did not do much to help Marks and Spencer’s shares either as it shed 8¼p, or 4.7 per cent, to 159¼p.
Elsewhere OSB Group, the bank created out of the former Kent Reliance Building Society, topped the mid-cap index as it posted a 51 per cent rise in pre-tax profit to £522.2 million last year, leading the shares to rally 66½p, or 14 per cent, to 542p.
The online ticketing platform Trainline said that improved ticket sales as Covid-19 restrictions eased should mean that full-year underlying profit will come in at the top end of guidance. The shares rose 10½p, or 5.2 per cent, to 210p.
Gains were offset by a number of companies trading ex-dividend, including NatWest, which fell 8¾p, or 3.9 per cent, to 213p, Anglo American, which shed 73p, or 2 per cent, to £35.95, and Crest Nicholson, which lost 9¾ p, or 3.1 per cent, to 289½p.