European markets ended in positive territory on Friday, with London’s FTSE 100 closing at a record high.
pan-european Stocks 600 The index ended 0.68% higher on Friday, with nearly all sectors and all major exchanges ending in the green. Mining stocks led the gains following the Bloomberg report, with the sector rising 2%. glencore was negotiating with rio tinto Explore the biggest merger in industry history. novo nordisk fell 4.3% and was one of its biggest detractors.
Britain has a thriving mining industry FTSE100 The index provisionally rose 1.35%, surpassing a record closing price of over 8,500 points.
The rise comes despite investors calling Friday’s UK data disappointing, with the ONS estimating retail sales to have fallen 0.3% in December compared to the previous month. Economists polled by Reuters had predicted sales would increase 0.4% from the previous month.
The UK’s economic growth rate for November, announced earlier this week, was weaker than expected, while inflation fell to a lower-than-expected 2.5%.
The combination of all three has led traders to further bet on the Bank of England extending interest rate cuts this year, with rates priced in more than 70 basis points (bp) by late morning, up from about 65 basis points a day earlier. rose from
This put pressure on the British pound, which fell 0.3% against the dollar, but contributed to a recent lull in Britain’s borrowing costs, which generally fell on Friday after surging to a 10-year high last week.
Analysts at Deutsche Bank said on Thursday that US inflation, which was again lower than expected this week, was “as important, if not more important” to UK assets than domestic inflation.
In particular, the FTSE 100 is known to have a high proportion of international companies that rely on overseas profits, and weak demand in the UK has been an even bigger drag. FTSE250 The index rose just 0.25% on Friday.
Stocks were mixed in Asian markets overnight as investors reacted to China’s better-than-expected fourth-quarter gross domestic product (GDP).
On Wall Street, despite some volatility in recent days, stock futures rose slightly, with indexes expected to end the week higher.
— CNBC’s Lisa Kailai Han and Lee Ying Shan contributed to this European market update.
