London’s FTSE 100 was up 1.7% at 6,966.67 in afternoon trade as prime minister Liz Truss’s press conference got underway.
Online supermarket Ocado surged to the top of the index after US grocery chain Kroger – with which it has a partnership – agreed to buy rival Albertsons in a $24.6bn deal.
Segro was a high riser as gilt yields fell. Real estate investment trusts can act as a bond proxy.
Utilities were also on the rise, with British Gas owner Centrica and United Utilities both higher.
Ladbrokes owner Entain gained after saying on Thursday that third-quarter net gaming revenue had ticked higher and that online gaming revenue for the fourth quarter was expected to rise, thanks in part to the World Cup.
Housebuilder Persimmon, which has suffered heavy losses recently along with other names in the sector, was also in the black.
FTSE 100 – Risers
Ocado Group (OCDO) 470.90p 8.05%
SEGRO (SGRO) 751.00p 5.51%
Centrica (CNA) 73.44p 5.03%
Entain (ENT) 1,186.50p 4.72%
Next (NXT) 4,867.00p 4.71%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 870.20p 4.39%
Rightmove (RMV) 476.70p 4.36%
Unite Group (UTG) 841.00p 4.34%
B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 320.00p 4.30%
Persimmon (PSN) 1,247.50p 4.26%
FTSE 100 – Fallers
Harbour Energy (HBR) 413.50p -1.59%
Aveva Group (AVV) 3,149.00p -0.76%
Shell (SHEL) 2,290.50p -0.52%
Prudential (PRU) 888.60p -0.47%
Imperial Brands (IMB) 2,007.00p -0.20%
Pearson (PSON) 903.40p -0.02%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 553.20p 0.33%
Smiths Group (SMIN) 1,526.00p 0.53%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 4,909.50p 0.65%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 3,296.00p 0.70%
