UKX FTSE 100 Index

By Emily Horton

Two former Tesco executives acquitted in fraud trial

The London stock market bounced back following Thursday's Wall Street recovery, which saw the Nasdaq Composite ending in the green.

Still, all three U.S. benchmarks on Friday were poised to fall anew ahead of a key employment report that could help determine the rate-hike plans for the Federal Reserve.

U.K. house-builders were among the top performers.

What are markets doing?

The U.K.'s FTSE 100 climbed by 1% to 6,767.40, having ended up 0.5% on Thursday.

The British pound dropped to $1.2750 from $1.2782 late on Thursday.

What is driving the market?

London markets clawed back losses from Thursday, after a rebound in the U.S.

On the news that the U.S. Federal Reserve might consider slowing the pace of its rate-hiking cycle after December, U.S. markets snapped back sharply, with the Nasdaq Composite actually finishing higher by 0.4% to 7,188.

Which stocks were active?

Tesco PLC (TSCO.LN) was up by almost 5%, after two former Tesco executives are acquitted in a fraud trial.

Housebuilder Berkeley Group Holdings PLC (BKG.LN) gained 3%, after pledging to continue return cash to shareholders, despite substantial drop in earnings in the first half of the financial year reported on Friday.

Associated British Foods PLC (ABF.LN) was the FTSE 100 biggest loser, dropping just over 2% after the company said trading at its key Primark business was "challenging" in November.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 07, 2018 06:51 ET (11:51 GMT)

FTSE 100
Index Chart
Von Mär 2024 bis Apr 2024

FTSE 100
Index Chart
Von Apr 2023 bis Apr 2024