(Alliance News) - Blue-chip stocks in Europe recovered lost ground to end largely higher on Friday afternoon, though the FTSE 100 outperformed.
The FTSE 100 index ended up 53.53 points, 0.6%, at 8,809.74. For the week, it added 1.7%. The FTSE 250 lost 88.35 points, 0.4%, at 20,326.38, and the AIM All-Share fell 3.89 points, 0.6%, at 703.83.
The Cboe UK 100 ended up 0.6% at 882.15, the Cboe UK 250 fell 0.5% at 17,655.88, and the Cboe Small Companies lost 1.0% at 15,534.59.
In Paris, the CAC 40 ended 0.1% higher, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt barely budged.
The pound was quoted lower at USD1.2588 late on Friday in London, compared to USD1.2626 at the equities close on Thursday. The euro stood lower at USD1.0406, flat against USD1.0407. Against the yen, the dollar was trading higher at JPY150.38 compared to JPY149.97.
Brent oil was quoted lower at USD72.62 a barrel from USD73.76 late Thursday. Gold was quoted lower at USD2,848.92 an ounce against USD2,873.26.
In New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.5% at the time of the London equities close. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite were up 0.4%.
A closely watched US inflation gauge decelerated as expected in January, numbers on Friday showed.
According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the core personal consumption expenditures price index rose 2.6% in the year to January, down from 2.9% in December.
The reading was in line with the FXStreet cited consensus. The core PCE is the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge.
The headline PCE index, which unlike the core data factors in food and energy, showed the pace of annual inflation eased to 2.5% last month, from 2.6% in December, in line with consensus.
"The 2.6% annual core inflation rate is still too hot for the Fed's liking and, with inflationary tariff measures pilling up, we stand by our view that rate cuts are off the table this year. The Fed's job becomes trickier if January's sharp decline in consumption was a sign of consumer strength buckling, but some of it can be attributed to unseasonably severe winter weather," Capital Economics analyst Thomas Ryan commented.
Tariff worries had unnerved stocks earlier on Friday.
China on Friday vowed to take "all necessary countermeasures" after US President Donald Trump said he would impose an additional 10% tariff on Chinese imports.
Trump's latest move is due to enter effect on Tuesday alongside sweeping 25% levies on Canadian and Mexican imports, intensifying a brewing trade war between the world's two largest economies.
The 10% tariff on Chinese imports will come on top of an existing levy of the same rate imposed by Trump on China earlier this month.
In response to Trump's allegations that Beijing is contributing to a deadly fentanyl crisis in the US – his justification for the tariffs – a spokesperson for China's commerce ministry said in a statement Friday that Washington was "shifting the blame".
The US and Britain will end up with a "great" trade agreement, President Donald Trump said Thursday during a joint press conference with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
"We're going to have a great trade agreement, one way or the other," Trump told reporters in Washington. "We're going to end up with a very good trade agreement for both countries, and we're working on that as we speak."
In London, IMI shares rose 5.5%, among the best large-cap performers. The engineering firm said its Process Automation offering enjoyed an "outstanding performance". Pretax profit in 2024 rose 9.3% to GBP330.4 million from GBP302.4 million. Revenue improved 0.6% to GBP2.21 billion from GBP2.20 billion.
Revenue beat company-compiled consensus of GBP2.20 billion. Adjusted operating profit also beat consensus, rising 6.1% to GBP435.5 million from GBP410.6 million. Consensus was for adjusted operating profit of GBP434 million.
The CEO Roy Twite added: "Given the strength of our cash flow, disciplined approach to capital allocation, strong balance sheet and confidence in our future performance, we today announce a further GBP200 million share buyback and a 10% increase to the final dividend. Over the next three years, we expect to generate in excess of GBP1 billion in free cash flow."
Elsewhere, Morgan Advanced slumped 16% as it warned of uncertain demand in some end markets. The carbon and ceramic materials manufacturer said it expects a mid-single-digit organic revenue decline for 2025, an outlook that assumes "no recovery" in the second half.
Revenue in 2024 fell 1.3% to GBP1.10 billion from GBP1.11 billion, but pretax profit rose 8.7% to GBP84.6 million from GBP77.6 million.
It lifted its total dividend by 1.7% to 12.2p per share from 12.0p.
Clinical diagnostics firm Oxford BioDynamics shed 8.7%.
"The group enters the remainder of 2025 with replenished but limited cash resources. The directors have concluded, as was the case at the previous year end, that material uncertainties exist which may cast significant doubt on the group and company's ability to continue as a going concern," the firm said in its annual results.
Its pretax loss in 2024 stretched to GBP12.0 million from GBP11.4 million. Revenue rose to GBP636,000 from GBP510,000.
Monday's economic calendar has a slew of manufacturing purchasing managers' index readings, including China and Japan overnight, the eurozone at 0900 GMT, the UK at 0930 and the US at 1445.
In the local corporate calendar, distribution firm Bunzl releases annual results.
By Eric Cunha, Alliance News news editor
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