FTSE roundup: Pearson pushes the blue chip index up as sterling shows signs of weakness

The FTSE 100 index ended this week up 0.86 per cent on last Friday’s close, though it lost some of the gains made at Wednesday’s peak.

Recovering publisher Pearson seemed to close the chapter on its all-too-regular profit warnings, saying at had seen a “good start” to the year. It led the blue chip index, with its shares ending the day up almost eight per cent.

British Airways owner IAG also saw its share price surge as it revealed Norwegian Air had rebuffed two of its advances.

Steel mining company Evraz, however, pulled some of the FTSE’s gains down. It fell 1.71 per cent over the day, as the threat of Trump’s steel tariffs and the company’s Russian operations weighed on investor sentiment.

Meanwhile in currencies, sterling was down against the dollar at the time of writing to $1.353 as the US nonfarm payrolls and jobs reports came out. Though the economic data was not stunning, the greenback lifted.

“GBP/USD is at the mercy of the firmer US dollar, and the move has been exacerbated by the lack of economic indicators from the UK today,” said CMC Markets analyst David Madden.

“Traders aren’t holding out much hope for an interest-rate rise from the Bank of England next month, and the jump in the greenback is adding to sterling’s woes. GBP/USD is near the 200-day moving average at 1.3512, and a break below it could put 1.3300 on the radar.”

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