30th May 2025 08:54
(Alliance News) - London's FTSE 100 opened in the green on Friday, as a Bank of England rate-setter warns on the UK economic outlook and looks to further reduce interest rates.
The FTSE 100 index opened up 49.67 points, 0.6%, at 8,766.12. The FTSE 250 was up 66.75 points, 0.3%, at 21,064.33, and the AIM All-Share was up 0.47 points, 0.1%, at 745.31.
The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.4% at 872.88, the Cboe UK 250 was up 0.4% at 18,567.43, and the Cboe Small Companies was flat at 16,744.33.
A rate-setter at the Bank of England has said he remains "pretty concerned" about the economic outlook as he renewed calls to reduce interest rates further.
Alan Taylor, who was appointed to the Bank's Monetary Policy Committee last year, indicated he will seek to cut interest rates again soon and dismissed recent stronger-than-expected inflation figures.
Official figures showed that Consumer Prices Index inflation jumped to 3.5% in April, up from 2.6% in March. The rise in inflation to its highest level since January 2024 comes amid a backdrop of steady reductions in interest rates – which had been kept elevated in a bid to curb high inflation – over the past year.
In European equities on Friday, the CAC 40 in Paris gained 0.1%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt rose 0.3%.
The pound was quoted lower at USD1.3471 early on Friday in London, compared to USD1.3488 at the equities close on Thursday. The euro stood lower at USD1.1336, against USD1.1363. Against the yen, the dollar was trading down at JPY144.02 compared to JPY144.22.
M&G was the FTSE 100's top winner at London's market open, up 7.6%.
The London-based asset manager has entered a new long-term strategic partnership with Japanese life insurer Dai-ichi Life on asset management and life insurance. M&G will become Dai-ichi Life's preferred asset management partner in Europe.
The partnership is expected to generate least USD6 billion in new business flows into funds managed by M&G over the next five years, and at least USD2 billion in new business flows for Dai-ichi Life over five years.
M&G expects the partnership to support growth in adjusted operating profit, noting that its performance in the year to date has been broadly in line with expectations, against a "volatile" market environment.
Dai-ichi intends to acquire around a 15% stake in M&G, which upon completion would give Dai-ichi the right to appoint a director to the board of M&G.
Aptamer Group rose 12%.
The York, England-based biotechnology firm providing Optimer binders for use in therapeutics, diagnostics, bioprocessing and research said it has signed a second Optimer discovery and development programme with consumer goods firm Unilever.
Under the deal, Aptamer will develop a novel panel of Optimer binders targeting an additional biological pathway association with body odour formation. This will potentially provide Unilever with a second strategy to prevent the formation of body malodour.
The agreement is structured on a fee-for-service basis, with Aptamer receiving an undisclosed six-figure sum for the development work.
Alpha Group International topped the FTSE 250 index, rising 4.6%.
The London-based financial services provider said it been in further talks with Corpay since its rejection of Corpay's all-cash takeover offer at the beginning of May, and has extended the deadline by which Corpay must announce a firm intention to make an offer.
Corpay must now make an offer by July 7, extending from May 30. Alpha will make a further announcement "as appropriate".
At the other end, hVIVO shed 58%.
The London-based contract research organisation testing vaccines for infectious and respiratory diseases noted the cancellation of a "significant" human challenge trial contract, alongside a postponement and small study cancellation.
hVIVO believes the client decisions to relate to "current uncertainties in the pharmaceutical industry and the continued depressed biotech financing market".
The firm has GBP47 million in revenue contracted for financial 2025, inclusive of cancellation and postponement fees, and anticipates further contract wins during the year. hVIVO notes, however, that the current contracted revenue would result in a mid-single-digit operating loss for the year.
In Asia on Friday, the Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo shed 1.2%. In China, the Shanghai Composite lost 0.5%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong faded 1.5%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney closed up 0.3%.
In the US on Thursday, Wall Street ended in the green, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.3%, the S&P 500 0.4% higher and the Nasdaq Composite also up 0.4%.
"What began as early trade optimism yesterday – triggered by the US Court of International Trade deeming Trump’s tariffs illegal – turned out to be too good to be true," commented Swissquote analyst Ipek Ozkardeskaya.
"Things quickly got messy when Trump appealed the decision, prompting the US Court of Appeals to pause the ruling in order to review arguments from both sides. Meanwhile, a separate federal court issued a similar but more limited decision on the tariffs. As a result, the initial ruling that had cancelled the tariffs is now effectively on hold.
"As such, uncertainty has surged – no one is quite sure what's legal and what's not anymore."
The yield on the US 10-year Treasury was quoted at 4.41%, narrowing from 4.43%. The yield on the US 30-year Treasury was quoted at 4.91%, narrowing from 4.93%.
The US State Department indicated Thursday that a global suspension on visa processing for international students would be brief, as it ramps up scrutiny of applicants' social media activity.
State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce encouraged prospective students to seek visa appointments and said: "I would not be recommending that if this was going to be weeks or months."
"I can tell you that it's something that would happen perhaps sooner than later," she told reporters.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday had ordered embassies and consulates to pause scheduling appointments for student visas pending new guidelines on checking applicants' social media postings.
It is one of a series of battles waged over education by President Donald Trump's administration, which has rescinded thousands of visas, sought to ban Harvard University from accepting any international students and vowed to aggressively revoke visas for Chinese students.
Brent oil was quoted lower at USD63.29 a barrel early in London on Friday from USD63.41 late Thursday.
Gold was quoted lower at USD3,296.09 an ounce against USD3,316.41.
Still to come on Friday's economic calendar, a US core personal consumption expenditures index reading at 1330 BST.
By Emily Parsons, Alliance News reporter
Comments and questions to [email protected]
Copyright 2025 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
Related Shares:
Aptamer GroupUnileverM&GhVIVOAlpha Group International