LONDON: Britain’s FTSE 100 locked in a third straight week of gains on Friday, as corporate takeovers and expectations of monetary policy easing helped counter global concerns about AI’s disruptive potential on a swathe of industries.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 rose 0.4 percent, hovering below record highs touched on Thursday. The FTSE 250 mid-cap index gained 0.5 percent, securing its first weekly rise after two consecutive weeks of losses.
A burst of new AI tool releases since late January has fuelled volatility in global markets, as investors weighed the threat newer models pose to traditional businesses.
London-listed credit analytics firm Experian, exchange operator London Stock Exchange Group, information group RELX, which were among the worst-hit stocks in the global selloff, rebounded on Friday.
Investors have cheered major M&A deals this week, including a US buyout of fund manager Schroders and NatWest Group’s plans to buy wealth manager Evelyn Partners.
The week also saw data that showed Britain’s economy grew just 0.1 percent in the fourth quarter, matching the previous quarter’s pace and partly reflecting uncertainty in the run-up to finance minister Rachel Reeves’ November budget.
Investors are pricing in a 63.4 percent chance that the Bank of England will lower borrowing costs by 25 basis points when it meets in March.
BoE Chief Economist Huw Pill, however, warned underlying inflation was still running near 2.5 percent and said rates must remain restrictive until disinflation is firmly secured.
Among other stock movers, NatWest reported a 24 percent jump in annual profit, just ahead of forecasts, and set more ambitious performance targets as it steps up investment in Britain’s costly but potentially lucrative wealth management market.
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