The FTSE 100 finished up by 1.23% at 7,357.1 and the FTSE 250 was up by 1.64% at 19,188.03 on Friday in a day overshadowed by the news of Queen Elizabeth II’s death, with new King Prince Charles III meeting new Prime Minister Liz Truss for the first time.
Stocks rose thanks in part to a surge in energy and mining stocks, and the pound staged a slight bounce-back, rising to $1.1647 against the dollar having hit a low not seen since 1985 on Wednesday.
Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at online trading platform IG said, “UK investors will no doubt be feeling somewhat conflicted given the current events, and the BoE has followed the lead set by other institutions by postponing its rate increase.
“But otherwise it is very much business as usual, and next week will still see a significant focus on the UK with CPI and employment data, although it is unlikely to provide a real change in trend for sterling, which still looks to be on a downward path against the dollar.”
On Friday, Darktrace (GB:DARK) gained 14% after plunging on Friday in the wake of news that U.S. private equity firm Thoma Bravo was no longer considering a bid for the cybersecurity pioneer.
Shares in IT services firm Computacenter (GB:CCC) fell by more than 11% after profits fell by 6.4% to £107.8m, which the company blamed on customers requiring the company to hold more inventory. Mike Norris, Chief Executive of Computacenter PLC said, “We remain on track to deliver our stated expectations of profit growth for the year as a whole.”
British business news today
UK energy package will weigh on gilts and pound, analysts warn (FT)
Liz Truss sails into uncharted waters without Bank of England support (Telegraph)
Inflation returns to spotlight before decision on interest rates (Times)
