LONDON: London’s FTSE 100 closed higher on Friday as communications stocks took the lead, with Vodafone jumping after French tycoon Xavier Niel became the company’s biggest shareholder, though the index suffered a weekly fall. The blue-chip FTSE 100 index rose 0.2 percent to 10,497.3 points, while the midcap FTSE 250 gained 0.6 percent. However, both indexes posted firm weekly losses, down 1.7 percent and 0.7 percent, respectively.
Vodafone jumped 12.6 percent to the top of the FTSE 100 after the UAE telecoms group e& said it would sell its stake in the British telecom company to the family investment vehicle of French billionaire Xavier Niel in a deal valued at nearly USD6 billion.
easyJet soared 14.3 percent to the top of the FTSE 250 after the budget carrier agreed in principle to a £5.7 billion (USD7.65 billion) takeover approach from Apollo Global, helping travel and leisure stocks lead sectoral gains, up 1.6 percent.
Media shares and chemicals added 1.3 percent each.
Healthcare was a drag, with heavyweight AstraZeneca down 3.9 percent after dropping over 6 percent in the previous session.
Renewed Middle East tensions were on the cards, as US President Donald Trump said Iran had asked to continue talks and the US had agreed, but the June ceasefire was “over”.
St. James’s Place was among the FTSE 100’s worst performers, sliding 8.6 percent following a report that Sovereign Wealth — one of the money manager’s largest partner firms — was in talks to join a Swedish wealth management group.
Shares of Hays rose 19.6 percent after the recruiter said it expects annual operating profit at the top end of market expectations, helped by cost cuts and improved consultant productivity.
On the political front, Andy Burnham moved closer to becoming Britain’s next prime minister after securing overwhelming backing from Labour lawmakers, putting him in a strong position to succeed Keir Starmer.
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