16th May 2025 17:01
(Alliance News) - The FTSE 100 pushed higher on Friday, ending the week on a strong note, and now at the level it roughly stood at prior to US President Donald Trump's 'liberation day' tariff melee.
The FTSE 100 index rose 50.81 points, 0.6%, at 8,684.56.
The FTSE 250 rose 127.50 points, 0.6%, at 20,972.26, and the AIM All-Share added 1.96 points, 0.3%, at 733.81.
The Cboe UK 100 ended up 0.7% at 867.47, the Cboe UK 250 rose 0.6% at 18,340.65, and the Cboe Small Companies added 0.1% at 15,856.60.
In European equities on Friday, the CAC 40 in Paris rose 0.4% and the DAX 40 in Frankfurt improved 0.3%.
The US and China announced Monday an agreement to drastically reduce tit-for-tat tariffs for 90 days, de-escalating a trade war that has roiled financial markets and raised fears of a global economic downturn.
The development has given markets a boost this week.
The pound was quoted higher at USD1.3260 late on Friday in London, compared to USD1.3279 at the equities close on Thursday. The euro fell to USD1.1146 against USD1.1178. Against the yen, the dollar was trading down at JPY145.97 compared to JPY145.81.
The dollar sits slightly above where it was this time last week, the pound had bought USD1.3299 seven days ago, but gold has fallen.
Gold was lower at USD3,181.86 an ounce against USD3,213.28 a day prior.
"The de-escalation of trade tensions between the United States and China — alongside a generally less aggressive American stance towards other trading partners — has boosted risk appetite across financial markets, weighing on the appeal of the haven metal. At the same time, renewed hopes of a US-Iran agreement have raised expectations of reduced volatility in the Middle East. Ongoing negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, although lacking meaningful progress so far, are also contributing to downward pressure on gold," ActivTrades analyst Ricardo Evangelista commented.
Brent oil was quoted at USD65.16 a barrel in London on Friday, up from USD64.28 late Thursday.
Oil stocks helped the FTSE 100. Shell added 0.7%, while BP climbed 1.2%.
It was also a strong day for pharmaceuticals, which have had a mixed time of late on tariff worries. AstraZeneca added 1.9% and GSK rose 2.4%.
Elsewhere in the pharma space, Novo Nordisk fell 1.8% in Copenhagen. Chief Executive Officer Lars Jorgensen would be stepping down per "mutual agreement", after eight years in the role.
The Bagsvaerd, Denmark-based pharmaceutical firm said both Jorgensen and the board agreed that commencing a CEO succession would be in Novo's best interests, as well its shareholders.
It tied his departure to a mix of "recent market challenges, the share price decline, and the wish from the Novo Nordisk Foundation".
Sales, profit and the share price have almost tripled under Jorgensen's tenure as CEO, a period which coincided with the boom in weight loss drug sales, catapulting Novo into Europe's largest company by market capitalisation at one point.
But the CEO change has been made "in light of recent market challenges" the firm has been facing, and its share price development since mid-2024. Novo shares are down over 50% over the last 12 months.
Back in London, Future fell 9.2%. It said it is taking a more conservative outlook for the rest of the financial year to reflect economic concerns and forex headwinds.
"Given ongoing macroeconomic uncertainty, the group believes it is prudent to adopt a more cautious view on the second half and expects a low single-digit decline in [full-year] 2025 organic revenue," the firm said in a statement.
In February, the company said it was on track to meet market expectations for the year to September 30, citing a company-compiled consensus of GBP776.9 million in revenue, a 1.4% decline from GBP788.2 million in the prior financial year.
Future said US direct advertising was hit in March by macroeconomic uncertainty but returned to growth in April. In addition, foreign exchange represents a headwind, the firm said.
Elsewhere, Staffline shot up 19%. The Nottingham, England-based recruitment and training firm has secured a "significant" strategic partnership with one of the UK's leading food and drink supply chain management and logistics providers covering the whole of the UK and Ireland.
The partnership is for an initial two years with a one-year extension option to fully outsource to Staffline of the agency's labour services that are currently supplied by the in-house labour supplier.
Staffline expects the contract to strengthen its market position in the logistics sector.
In New York on Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was marginally lower, the S&P 500 a touch higher, and the Nasdaq Composite down 0.1%.
The yield on the US 10-year Treasury was quoted at 4.44%, narrowing from 4.47%. The yield on the US 30-year Treasury was quoted at 4.89%, narrowing from 4.92%.
Monday's economic calendar has a Chinese unemployment reading overnight, before eurozone inflation data at 1000 BST.
IT services provider Kainos releases annual results.
By Eric Cunha, Alliance News news editor
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