Robust corporate results lift London shares

Investors traded carefully at the end of last week, following a rather hawkish speech by Jerome Powell. The Fed chairman hinted that the monetary tightening cycle in the US was not necessarily over. In addition, UK GDP figures showed weaker-than-expected domestic activity, while spirits group Diageo dropped 12.2% after it slashed its guidance. The FTSE 100 fell by 1.3% on Friday and by 0.8% for the week.

After a hectic start to the month, with many monetary policy meetings around the world, investors are coming to their senses and trying to digest the wealth of information available. After the big rebound of the previous week, Jerome Powell’s hawkish comments have hit sentiment, but investors do not yet seem ready to believe the Fed chairman. Meanwhile, in China, statistics remained hopelessly lackluster. Consumer prices even fell in October, hardly consistent with the long-awaited economic rebound in the world's second-largest economy.

Nevertheless, the FTSE 100 is trading 0.7% higher this morning, thanks to a set of good corporate results.

Phoenix Group jumped 8.5% after it upgraded its short-term guidance, while BAE Systems was up 0.5% after it reiterated its guidance for annual earnings. It said it is delivering "another year of good sales and earnings growth", adding that it has a strong opportunity pipeline.

Things to read today:

UK set to unveil regulatory regime for ESG ratings industry (Financial Times)

Is the Stock Market Rally About to Rev Up? (WSJ)

Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley Diverge on Fed Rate-Cut Forecasts (Bloomberg)