FTSE 100 movers: Banks rally; dollar-earners take a hit
London's FTSE 100 was up 0.2% at 7,362.24 in afternoon trade on Friday, underpinned by signs of improving Sino-US trade relations but with gains capped by a firmer pound.
Domestic stocks rallied in tandem with sterling, with banks RBS, Barclays and Lloyds and housebuilders Barratt and Taylor Wimpey all higher.
However, dollar-earners were on the back foot as the pound traded at its best level since July versus the greenback, with British American Tobacco, Experian, Rentokil and Unilever all weaker.
London Stock Exchange was in the green as it rejected a £29.6bn takeover offer from Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) and reiterated its commitment to the acquisition of financial data and trading platform provider Refinitiv.
Neil Wilson, chief market analyst at Markets.com, said it was no great surprise to see the LSE board politely but firmly reject the bid.
"Unattractive, offering a puny dowry and coming with volatile and unpredictable parents, HKEX never looked like the ideal bride," he said.
Diageo was in the red after Reuters reported on Thursday that unions were demanding a 5% pay rise for workers set to strike this month in Scotland.
FTSE 100 - Risers
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 209.90p 6.06%
NMC Health (NMC) 2,958.00p 5.04%
Barclays (BARC) 155.98p 4.90%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 54.11p 4.18%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 650.00p 4.17%
ITV (ITV) 125.02p 4.06%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 937.60p 3.83%
Kingfisher (KGF) 209.40p 3.71%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 162.35p 3.37%
London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) 7,486.00p 3.23%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 2,600.00p -3.99%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 2,960.50p -3.66%
Diageo (DGE) 3,261.00p -3.56%
Compass Group (CPG) 1,946.50p -3.16%
Relx plc (REL) 1,839.50p -2.90%
Halma (HLMA) 1,953.50p -2.86%
Experian (EXPN) 2,461.00p -2.53%
Rentokil Initial (RTO) 432.10p -2.44%
Unilever (ULVR) 4,897.50p -2.11%
Intertek Group (ITRK) 5,329.46p -2.03%