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London’s FTSE 100 ended the week in positive territory on Friday, though share price falls for its mining sector prevented stronger gains.
Elsewhere, there were M&A developments for investors to mull over. Network International received an improved offer, Sureserve backed a takeover bid, and Kape Technologies warned its suitors may soon have enough support to propose a delisting.
It was a largely decent day to round off the week for European equities. The same could not be said about the pound, however, which struggled in the wake of a tepid UK retail sales reading.
The FTSE 100 index closed up 11.52 points, or 0.2%, at 7,914.13. The FTSE 250 added a more convincing 134.14 points, rising 0.7%, to 19,270.01. The AIM All-Share rose 1.07 points, or 0.1%, at 830.30.
For the week, the FTSE 100 added 0.5%, the FTSE 250 edged up 0.1%. The AIM largely ended the week as it started it.
The Cboe UK 100 ended up 0.1% at 790.93, the Cboe UK 250 rose 0.5% to 16,851.62, and the Cboe Small Companies lost 0.5% to 13,142.98.
In European equities on Friday, the CAC 40 in Paris and the DAX 40 in Frankfurt both rose 0.5%.
Stocks in New York were weaker at the time of the European close. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 were each down 0.2%, and the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.1%.
AJ Bell analyst Danni Hewson said there is still some ‘tension’ in markets.
‘It‘