UK shares advance, US housing data beats forecasts, consumer confidence falls from nine-month highs

United Kingdoms FTSE 100 Index (UKX) recorded a weekly gain on Friday amid mixed data, that came out from the United States, showing housing starts and building permits outpaced preliminary estimates, while the gauge of consumer confidence slid from a nine-month high during the current month.

FTSE 100 closed at 6,855.81 yesterday in London, rising 0.22% or 14.92 points. The benchmark hit highs unseen in 14 years on May 14th, while gaining 0.6% for the week. The volume of traded shares of FTSE-listed companies was 32% higher than the average volume of the past 30 days, Bloomberg reported.

Gainers and losers

Shares of J Sainsbury PLC, the retailer which operates Sainsbury supermarkets in the UK, climbed 4.48% to close at 347.700 GBP yesterday, or the top gainer within the FTSE 100 Index.

Shares of WM Morrison Supermarkets PLC, which retails groceries via a chain of supermarkets in the UK, rose 3.75% or 7.700 points to close at 212.900 GBP. This was the largest two-day advance for companys shares since 2008. The Daily Mail reported a US-led private-equity consortium may bid for the retailer.

Shares of Tesco PLC gained 2.61% or 7.900 points to close at 310.450 GBP yesterday, while Standard Chartered PLC added 28.00 points or 2.14% to close at 1,336.00 GBP.

Shares of AstraZeneca PLC added 97.000 points or 2.05% to close at 4,823.500 GBP. Shareholders of the drug producer urged companys management to begin negotiations with Pfizer Inc. regarding the latter’s takeover bid, according to City A.M.

Shares of Coca-Cola HBC AG recorded the largest loss within the FTSE 100 on Friday, falling 66.000 points or 4.56% to close at 1,381.000 GBP. TUI Travel PLC lost 16.100 points or 3.80% to close at 407.700 GBP, while Intertek Group PLC fell 98.000 points or 3.17% to close at 2,992.000 GBP. Intertek said business conditions during the first four months of 2014 were mixed, underscoring weak demand and the negative effect on sales caused by the strong national currency.

US housing data, Michigan confidence

Housing starts in the United States registered a significant increase in April, reaching the highest level in five months. Annualized housing starts jumped 13.2% to 1.072 million units, supported by the volatile category of apartments. Construction of single-family houses increased at a modest rate. The result surpassed experts median forecast, pointing to an increase to 0.980 million sites from the revised up 0.947 million sites in March.

Meanwhile, consumer confidence in the country unexpectedly dropped in May from a nine-month high, recorded in late April. This implied that US consumers probably restrained their spending because of higher food and energy prices. Thomson Reuters in cooperation with the University of Michigan reported that the preliminary reading of their gauge of consumer confidence fell to 81.8 this month from a final value of 84.1 in April. Experts had anticipated that the index will advance to 84.5 in May.