London’s FTSE 100 was 2.1% higher at 7,337.07 in afternoon trade on Friday.
Miners Anglo American, Rio Tinto and Antofagasta were among the top performers amid speculation that China might relax its Covid restrictions. Asia-focused Prudential was also sharply higher, along with HSBC and Standard Chartered.
Victoria Scholar, head of investment at Interactive Investor, said: “The Hang Seng Index logged its best weekly gain since November 2011 amid speculation that some of China’s strict Covid rules that have sharply weighed on its economy could be set to ease in the coming months. So far, the speculation is only based on social media rumours with China’s foreign ministry commenting that it is not aware of the issue.”
Also lifting sentiment was a report suggesting that China is working on plans to scrap a system that penalises airlines for bringing virus cases into the country. Bloomberg cited people familiar with the matter as saying that the State Council, which oversees China’s bureaucracy, recently asked government agencies including the civil aviation regulator to prepare for ending the so-called circuit-breaker mechanism.
Luxury fashion brand Burberry – whose biggest market is China – also rallied.
On the downside, Sainsbury’s was hit by a downgrade to ‘neutral’ at Exane.
FTSE 100 – Risers
Anglo American (AAL) 2,966.00p 11.67%
Prudential (PRU) 918.80p 9.59%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 5,089.00p 8.86%
Endeavour Mining (EDV) 1,587.00p 8.55%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,269.00p 7.45%
Fresnillo (FRES) 754.00p 7.44%
HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 493.15p 6.48%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 85.15p 6.23%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 564.20p 5.77%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,938.00p 5.01%
FTSE 100 – Fallers
BAE Systems (BA.) 806.00p -2.11%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 210.20p -0.66%
BT Group (BT.A) 115.65p -0.64%
Pearson (PSON) 964.60p -0.62%
RS Group (RS1) 880.00p -0.56%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 636.00p -0.47%
GSK (GSK) 1,441.60p -0.44%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RKT) 5,738.00p -0.14%
Aveva Group (AVV) 3,146.00p 0.03%
Tesco (TSCO) 223.30p 0.13%
