Signs of stability gives solace in the good, bad and ugly climate

Over the past few weeks, the UK market has been experiencing some broadening out, and we have seen the defensive sectors playing catch-up with good share price rises in tobacco and food producers, for example.

On top of this, in late July we even saw the longest run of gains in over four years of the FTSE 100. Indeed, economic indicators have certainly been favourable for the bulls recently. Merger and acquisition activity has also made something of a welcome comeback in recent weeks, with proposed deals involving Resolution and Friends Provident, Xstrata and Anglo American, Centrica and Venture Production, along with plenty of other speculation in the City around other potential deals. The confidence these kinds of deals give to the market cannot be underestimated and I would expect to see mo...