Shares in Sainsbury’s closed in on a two-year high just days after industry data revealed it has won back shoppers amid a price battle with cheaper rivals.
The FTSE 100 supermarket group rose 1.6 per cent, or 4.7p, to 294.8p – a level not seen since November 2021 when they hit 295p – taking gains for this year to more than a third.
Earlier this week, figures from market research group Kantar showed Sainsbury’s accounts for 15.6 per cent of grocery spending, up from 15.2 per cent a year ago. This was its largest gain since 2013 and came amid booming demand for its Taste The Difference range, where sales rose 23 per cent.
It is Britain’s second-biggest supermarket, behind Tesco (down 0.2 per cent, or 0.6p, to 287.9p), which makes up 27.5 per cent of the grocery market. Sainsbury’s is ahead of discount retailers Aldi and Lidl and private equity owned Morrisons and Asda.
The sector’s outlook is positive as food inflation eases in the UK, according to Goldman Sachs. The US investment bank said Sainsbury’s is the only one out of the so-called Big Four supermarkets to be growing volumes right now.
Boost: Sainsbury’s rose 1.6 per cent to 294.8p – a level not seen since November 2021 when they hit 295p
Goldman Sachs upgraded Sainsbury’s to ‘buy’ from ‘neutral’ and increased the target price to 350p from 305p.
It means the supermarket is on course for its best annual performance since 1992.
The London stock market ended the week in the black as the FTSE 100 rose 0.5 per cent, or 40.75 points, to 7554.47, and the FTSE 250 gained 0.5 per cent, or 83.25 points, to 18701.99. Oil prices increased a day after Saudi Arabia and Russia urged all members of the intergovernmental oil producing group, Opec, and its allies to agree to advocate output cuts.
Brent crude rose nearly 2 per cent to $75 a barrel having been close to $97 just over two months ago.
But Tamas Varga, an analyst at the oil broker PVM, said ‘there is an abundance of oil available’.
He cited the lack of consensus among members of Opec+ (which includes other oil-producing nations not part of Opec), record high US production and dwindling Chinese crude import figures.
Back in London, Anglo American suffered its worst day on the stock market since October 2008 after the mining giant revealed it will slash its metal production in South Africa and Chile.
It wants to cut costs amid ongoing economic volatility and lower metal and diamond prices.
Shares flopped 19 per cent, or 421.9p, to 1802.6p.
Heading firmly in the other direction, Chilean miner Antofagasta surged 4.2 per cent, or 61.5p, to 1514p, on the back of stronger copper prices.
City trading house IG Group has appointed Breon Corcoran, the former boss of gambling giant Flutter (up 2 per cent, or 255p, to 13155p), as chief executive.
He will start towards the end of January and replaces June Felix, who stepped down in August due to health issues. Shares rose 3.8 per cent, or 27p, to 733.5p.
Ongoing geopolitical conflicts next year should see European defence spending remain high, according to Deutsche Bank Research. It lifted its rating on Rolls-Royce (up 1.1 per cent, or 3.1p, to 289.3p) and BAE Systems (up 2.3 per cent, or 23.5p, to 1042.5p).
Pressure mounted on online retailer THG after a second shareholder called for it to break up its business. Dutch asset management firm OVMK, which owns 2pc of the London-listed firm, has joined Kelso Group in demanding that the beauty, nutrition and commerce platforms are spun off into separate companies.
Shares in THG increased 6.6 per cent, or 5.16p, to 83.26p taking its gains for the year to nearly 90 per cent.
