London open: Stocks rise as traders process busy week

London stocks gained on Friday as the market mulled over a busy week that included central bank policy decisions, a raft of economic data and the UK Budget 2016.

With little on Friday’s economic calendar, investors have been left to digest proceedings earlier in the week.

The Bank of England, Bank of Japan and the Federal Reserve all decided to hold fire on policy change this week, highlighting worries about the slowdown in the global economy.

On Wednesday, Chancellor George Osborne outlined the UK Budget 2016 which included spending cuts, lower corporation tax and plans to reach a £10bn surplus by 2020.

In economic data, this week saw UK jobs data and US inflation, both of which showed some improvements.

Oil was also a continued focus with prices wavering throughout the week. At 0859 GMT, Brent crude fell 0.5% to $41.31 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate dropped 0.47% to $40.01 per barrel.

On the company front, shares in BT Group rose after it announced the appointment of Simon Lowth as group finance director.

Berkeley Group was in the red despite saying it expected current year results to be at the top end of expectations, after absorbing approximately £25m of accelerated operating expenses.

Associated British Foods rallied as it said it was still in talks over the potential acquisition of the remaining shares of Durban-based Illovo Sugar Ltd it does not already own.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 6,211.03 0.16%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 16,895.88 0.28%
techMARK (TASX) 3,088.96 0.32%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Ashtead Group (AHT) 869.00p 1.64%
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 234.30p 1.47%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 70.28p 1.41%
Smiths Group (SMIN) 1,091.00p 1.39%
St James's Place (STJ) 940.50p 1.29%
Aberdeen Asset Management (ADN) 292.70p 1.28%
Schroders (SDR) 2,750.00p 1.25%
3i Group (III) 452.00p 1.23%
Shire Plc (SHP) 3,611.00p 1.21%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 464.40p 1.17%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 6,530.00p -1.88%
Fresnillo (FRES) 990.50p -1.64%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 529.00p -1.58%
Mondi (MNDI) 1,366.00p -1.37%
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 3,217.00p -1.23%
easyJet (EZJ) 1,472.00p -0.88%
Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 1,723.50p -0.86%
Royal Dutch Shell 'A' (RDSA) 1,718.00p -0.69%
BP (BP.) 357.80p -0.50%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 280.20p -0.46%

FTSE 250 - Risers

OneSavings Bank (OSB) 318.30p 5.57%
Clarkson (CKN) 2,225.00p 5.45%
Evraz (EVR) 88.90p 2.60%
BGEO Group (BGEO) 1,983.00p 2.59%
Big Yellow Group (BYG) 782.00p 2.02%
888 Holdings (888) 178.50p 1.94%
Playtech (PTEC) 832.00p 1.84%
Saga (SAGA) 188.60p 1.84%
Just Eat (JE.) 378.80p 1.83%
Poundland Group (PLND) 173.60p 1.76%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Debenhams (DEB) 73.70p -3.34%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 94.20p -3.34%
Allied Minds (ALM) 390.50p -2.13%
Polypipe Group (PLP) 328.50p -1.91%
Caledonia Investments (CLDN) 2,211.00p -1.69%
Halma (HLMA) 879.50p -1.35%
British Empire Trust (BTEM) 448.00p -1.32%
Card Factory (CARD) 333.00p -1.30%
HICL Infrastructure Company Ltd (HICL) 157.40p -1.25%
Kennedy Wilson Europe Real Estate (KWE) 1,188.00p -1.16%