Top story

GfK’s Consumer Confidence Index has increased by five points this month to -7 as worries over the implication of Brexit begin to settle down.

The index measuring changes in personal finances during the last 12 months has increased by one point this month to 0 – three points lower than August 2015.

The forecast for personal finances over the next 12 months increased by five points this month to +4, though this is three points lower than this time last year.

The measure for the general economic situation of the country during the last 12 months has increased two points this month to -23; which remains 26 points lower than August 2015. Expectations for the General Economic Situation over the next 12 months have increased 11 points to -22 this month, which is 25 points lower than August 2015.

Joe Staton, Head of Market Dynamics at GfK, says: “We’re reporting some recovery in the Index this month as consumers settle into the new wait-and-see reality of a post-Brexit, pre-exit UK.

“The uptick in confidence is driven by good news from hard data, the combination of historic low interest rates matched with falling prices and high levels of employment. This can be seen in positive growth across all major measures including both our personal and general economic situation for the next 12-months.

“But more remarkable is the 16-point collapse in the Savings Index (down from +1 last month to -15). We Brits are clearly determined to carry on shopping for today rather than saving for tomorrow.”

Morning update

It’s another quiet morning in a quiet week for the markets.

The only release of note is half year results from AIM-listed Ukrainian egg producer Avangardco Investments, which reported a 47% sales fall to US$64.8m. Export sales revenues were down 49% to US$31.7m and gross profit fell 64% to US$2.7m.

CEO Nataliya Vasylyuk said: “[The results] reflect the difficult environment in which the Company continues to operate. The results were affected by the Q2 sales price of shell eggs which fell below the 2015 level amid rising production costs. The lower sales price was due to increased domestic competition triggered by reduced shell egg exports from Ukraine and weaker domestic demand.”

The FTSE 100 has opened up a fraction this moring at 6,824.2pts.

The supermarkets have had a tough start to the day, with Morrisons (MRW) down 2.1% to 193.1p so far this morning, Sainsbury’s (SBRY) down 1.5% to 239.1p and Tesco (TSCO) falling 0.8% to 162p.

Also falling are Coca-Cola HBC (CCH), down 1.1% to 1,676p, C&C Group (CCR), down 2.7% to €3.72 and Ocado (OCDO), down 1.8% to 301.5p.

Early risers include Hilton Food Group (HFG), up 3% to 593p, Real Good Food (RGD), up 2.2% to 35p, McColl’s (MCLS) up 2.1% to 168.2p, Applegreen (APGN), up 2.1% to 393p and Finsbury Food Group (FIF), up 1.4% to 127.3p.

Yesterday in the City

The FTSE 100 dipped 0.3% to 6,820.8pts yesterday as the markets got off to something of a slow start after the Bank Holiday.

Nonetheless there were some notable movers yesterday, led by Associated British Foods (ABF), which was one of the FTSE’s biggest risers after climbing 3.4% to 3,051p on increasing investor confidence over the prospects of Primark in the post-Brexit era.

Also on the up were Ocado (OCDO), up 2.4% to 307p, Dairy Crest (DCG), up 1.8% to 669p and Greencore (GNC), up 1.1% to 359p. On AIM, sports nutrition firm Science in Sport leapt 6% to 70.5p after signing a deal with Liverpool Football Club this week.

A number of retail and leisure firms were on the slide however, with WH Smith losing its small bump after last week’s reassuring pre-close update after dropping 3.1% to 1,520p. Also down were B&M European Value Retail (BME), down 2% to 277p, SSP Group (SSPG), down 1.2% to 326p and Marks & Spencer (MKS), down 1.2% to 341p.

Suppliers falling included household goods manufacturer McBride (MCB), down 3.4% to 154.5p, while Diageo (DGE) and British American Tobacco (BATS) were both down 1.1% to 2,127.5p and 4,754.5p respectively.