Market Report - Close
London close: FTSE rallies into month-end as GKN submits to Melrose bid
Far from a quiet stroll ahead of the long Easter weekend, Thursday’s session saw the tense conclusion of the soap opera-style GKN/Melrose will-they-won't-they drama, while a deluge of economic data and regulatory decisions to kept investors gripped down to the wire.
London close: Stocks higher at quarter-end, buoyed by deal news
Deal news helped London's top flight index finish higher on Wednesday, after a technology-led selloff on Wall Street during the previous session sparked early losses.
London close: FTSE bounces back as trade fears recede
The FTSE 100 bounced back on Tuesday but fell agonisingly short of regaining the 7,000 level as markets swung from pessimism to optimism that a global trade war can be averted, with the surging dollar helping many of London's multi-nationals.
London close: Pound strength proves too much for stocks
A bout of late selling clipped the wings of London's top flight index, with deal-making and broker upgrades failing to offset the drag from currency gains and still visibly weak investor sentiment in the States.
London close: Stocks end down amid trade war woes; Smiths slumps but Next rallies
London stocks ended down but off lows on Friday amid trade war fears, with engineer Smiths slumping on the back of disappointing results but retailer Next in the black.
London close: FTSE flops to sub-7,000 finish for first time in 15 months
London stocks fell their lowest close since late 2016 as the pound held its gains after the Bank of England left the door open for a May rate rise, while miners and retailers leading the falls.
London close: Stocks under pressure as pound extends gains
London stocks slipped on Wednesday as the pound gained ground after UK wage growth was shown to have accelerated more than expected at the start of the year, while a slew of updates from retailers meant the high street was very much in focus.
London close: Stocks bounce on foreign interest, dip in Sterling
London stocks managed to stage a small bounce on Tuesday, with sentiment boosted by the second bid for a British firm in as many days from across the Channel.
London close: Shares hammered by rising pound, trade and political frictions
London stocks fell sharply at the start of the week as the pound rallied on the back of a draft Brexit deal, with traders also looking ahead to a week that included monetary policy meetings at the US Federal Reserve and the Bank of England.
London close: Financials lead the way as Berkeley rant misfires
London stocks finished the week with a second step higher, as financials and miners rose again to offset caution hitting the housebuilding and retail sectors.
London close: Financials help FTSE perk up after three-day decline
Having hummed and hawed all day amid a buzz of UK corporate and global geopolitical news on Thursday, London's blue chip share index showed signs of life after being laid up for the first three days of the week.
London close: Stocks end lower as US equities retreat; Prudential bucks trend
London stocks reversed earlier gains to close lower on Wednesday as US equities retreated on the back of weak retail sales and growing political uncertainty, although a strong showing from Prudential and heavily-weighted miners kept losses to a minimum.
London close: Stocks shrug off Chancellor to slip on sterling spike
London stocks were knocked back into the middle of last week on Tuesday after a the market shrugged at the Chancellor's spring statement but was unsettled by another sacking in the White House.
London close: Shares dip despite fresh M&A news
London stocks failed to build on the gains seen on Wall Street at the end of last week as investors mulled over news that London house prices have slumped over the last year, while M&A was in focus as Melrose sweetened its hostile bid for GKN.
London close: Korean breakthrough, US jobs data buoy shares
Shares finished at their best level of the session, amid optimism around the situation on the Korean peninsula, and after a bumper US non-farm payrolls report for February boosted copper and oil futures which in turn lifted shares of miners and oilers.
London close: Stocks end up as investors mull ECB announcement, Trump tariffs
Equity indices in London rose on Thursday alongside their European peers as European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi signalled that the central bank’s exit from quantitative easing would be gradual.
London close: Stocks shrug-off trade war worries to end higher
London stocks finished higher on Wednesday, helped by a stellar performance from Rolls-Royce, although the resignation of US President Trump's chief economic advisor Gary Cohn and the prospect of a trade war kept investors on edge.
London close: Stocks extend gains as new rifts emerge over trade
London equities extended their winning run to a second day on Tuesday, underpinned by excitement in the paper and packaging sector after Smurfit Kappa rejected a takeover bid, as concerns about a US trade war ebbed and flowed.
London close: Turnaround on Wall Street boosts stocks, trade frictions in focus
London stocks jumped back in late trading, helped by a turnaround on Wall Street as investors digested better-than-expected services data on both sides of the Pond, though lingering fears of a US trade war kept a lid on gains.
London close: Stocks drop amid trade jitters
London stocks finished the week at their session lows as the White House's pledge to slap tariffs on imports of steel and aluminium reverberated around the world.