Britain's top share index hit a 3-1/2 week closing high on Friday and recorded strong gains on the week as investors took heart from further signs of improvement in the global economy. Budget airliner easyJet rose 1 percent, a top FTSE 100 performer, after unveiling a 10 percent jump in its passenger numbers in June from the same month of the previous year.
Robust US economic data, which raised expectations that the world's biggest economy was on a recovery path, meant the broader FTSE 100 index notched up its best weekly gains since early May. "The underlying picture still remains good in some of the key regions - the US and here in the UK of course - and you've still got an accommodative stance from the European Central Bank," said Henk Potts, equity strategist at Barclays.
"I think the earnings that you see from companies will still be very supportive and good news for sentiment, but appreciate that actually investors may become a little bit nervous as we go through that period of liquidity starting to be removed and as interest rates start to normalize." Sports Direct was the biggest faller, off 2.1 percent, after a report in Britain's Guardian newspaper said leading investors in the company will vote against the re-election of the chairman and other board members at September's annual general meeting in protest at the multimillion-pound bonus scheme for its founder Mike Ashley.
The FTSE 100 index rose 0.84 of a point - flat in percentage terms - to 6,866.05 points, its highest close since June 10. It was up 1.6 percent this week. Investors had avoided strong bets on the last trading day of the week and as the US market was closed for a holiday. Trading volumes were low, with the FTSE 100 witnessing just under half of its 90-day daily average.
Comments
Comments are closed.