FRANKFURT: Britain’s FTSE 100 ended higher on Friday and notched a weekly gain, supported by financials, while higher gold prices lifted precious metals miners.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 index closed up 0.2percent at 10,679.03 points, while the midcap FTSE 250 climbed 0.5percent.
The financials sector gained ground, led by Close Brothers Group, up 7.9percent, while Lion Finance Group and Standard Chartered advanced 2.8percent and 1.5percent respectively.
Precious metals miners gained 1.4percent, tracking higher gold prices after weak US jobs data reduced expectations of a near-term Federal Reserve rate hike. Chemicals led sectoral gains, advancing 2.5percent, with Johnson Matthey up 4.9percent after the firm received Chinese regulatory approval for the divestment of its Catalyst Technologies business to Honeywell. It said it expects the deal to close by the end of August.
Meanwhile, Bank of England policymaker Catherine Mann said on Thursday that a reduction in markets’ expectations for BoE rate increases since June’s Monetary Policy Committee meeting would be a key factor in her decision on rates at the end of this month.
Separately, British businesses showed no signs of easing their price expectations in June despite a de-escalation of the Iran war that had sent energy costs surging, a Bank of England survey showed.
Activity in Britain’s dominant services sector contracted for a second month running in June and by the most since early 2023, a closely watched survey showed, as the fallout from the Iran war continued to weigh on companies.
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