UKX FTSE 100 Index

By Emily Horton

(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/china-factory-activity-rises-says-private-gauge-2019-02-28)London's FTSE 100 was boosted on Friday by upbeat global sentiment after encouraging China data and reports of fresh trade deal developments between the U.S. and China.

WPP climbed after its results announcement.

How are markets performing?

The FTSE 100 rose by 0.5% to 7,109.20 on Friday, after finishing the month up 1.5%.

The pound slipped after a week of highs, to $1.3240 from $1.3261 late in New York on Thursday.

What's driving the markets?

The latest Caixin manufacturing purchasing managers index--a private gauge of factory activity in China -- came in well ahead of forecast, (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/china-factory-activity-rises-says-private-gauge-2019-02-28)boosting investor optimism.

Meanwhile, U.S. officials are reportedly (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-china-preparing-final-trade-deal-that-could-be-signed-within-weeks-report-2019-02-28) planning a final trade deal in March, ahead of the summit between President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-china-preparing-final-trade-deal-that-could-be-signed-within-weeks-report-2019-02-28).

"A lot of this is due to the ongoing optimism about the trade war negotiations between the US and China. The deal could be around the corner, both parties are in the final steps of finalizing them; in fact, they are exploring the dates for the joint summit. This really shows that some tremendous progress has been made," Naeem Aslam, chief market analysts at ThinkMarkets, said in a note to clients.

U.K. factory jobs were reportedly (https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-economy-pmi/uk-factories-slash-jobs-stockpile-at-record-pace-before-brexit-pmi-idUKKCN1QI46F) slashed in February and goods were stockpiled at the fastest rate since records began in preparation for Brexit, the latest survey from IHS Markit/ CIPS UK revealed on Friday.

According to U.K. national paper The Sun, Britain's pro-Brexit politicians will reportedly back Theresa May's EU withdrawal deal in return for her quick departure as Prime Minister (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/brexit-brief-theresa-may-could-secure-deal-in-return-for-early-exit-as-pm-2019-03-01),

What stocks are active?

Advertising giant WPP PLC (WPP.LN) rallied 7%, with the group's results and outlook "broadly in line" with expectations, according to Barclays analysts Julien Roch and Emily Johnson.

However, "expectations had been set pretty low for media giant WPP so it's perhaps not a great surprise that performance is better than advertised," Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, told clients in a note.

London Stock Exchange Group PLC (LSE.LN) gained 2.8%, after the exchange said it no longer expects to hit key financial targets in 2019 (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/london-stock-exchange-says-wont-hit-targets-2019-03-01) as it looks to invest in growing the business.

"Total income growth surpasses expectations, reaching GBP2.1bn but adjusted operating profit falls below expectations," Helal Miah, investment research analyst at The Share Centre, said in a note to clients, adding "increasing levels of diversification [was] welcomed by investors in an increasingly uncertain political and economic environment."

One of the index's biggest losers was Rightmove PLC(RMV.LN), which dropped by 5.3% after the property website reported is slowest profit growth in nine years, Reuters reported (https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-rightmove-results/rightmove-shares-fall-on-slowing-full-year-profit-growth-idUKKCN1QI419).

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 01, 2019 08:25 ET (13:25 GMT)

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