London’s FTSE 100 was up 1.3% in afternoon trade on Friday at 7,396.95.
Royal Mail was the top gainer on the index, having slumped a day earlier after it warned of price increases and £350m in cost cuts to combat soaring inflation after reporting a rise in full-year profits, although short of expectations.
Asia-focused insurer Prudential was also among the top risers as sentiment was boosted after the People’s Bank of China cut a key lending benchmark by the most on record as it looks to support a slowing economy and support housing demand.
The Bank cut the five-year loan prime rate – its mortgage reference rate – by a bigger-than-expected 15 basis points, to 4.45%, and left the one-year rate unchanged at 3.7%. Analysts had been expecting a five basis points reduction across both tenures.
Croda rallied after it backed its full-year expectations and said trading in 2022 has been strong, with continued sales and profit growth across the group.
FTSE 100 – Risers
Royal Mail (RMG) 315.30p 5.10%
Prudential (PRU) 1,023.00p 4.69%
ITV (ITV) 72.54p 4.61%
Entain (ENT) 1,418.50p 4.30%
Flutter Entertainment (CDI) (FLTR) 9,242.00p 4.01%
Halma (HLMA) 2,159.00p 3.80%
3i Group (III) 1,222.50p 3.78%
St James’s Place (STJ) 1,232.00p 3.66%
Croda International (CRDA) 6,780.00p 3.51%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 126.78p 3.49%
FTSE 100 – Fallers
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 233.30p -1.56%
Imperial Brands (IMB) 1,799.00p -1.10%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 584.20p -1.08%
B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 425.10p -0.89%
Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 757.40p -0.34%
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 121.80p -0.33%
Meggitt (MGGT) 774.40p -0.08%
National Grid (NG.) 1,209.00p 0.17%
Avast (AVST) 484.00p 0.33%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 3,447.50p 0.44%
