After a couple of sessions dominated by disastrous updates, the FTSE avoided another round of losses on Friday.
Adding 0.3%, the UK index benefited from a rebound from its miners, and a 3% rise from Pearson (LON:PSON), the former-FT owner helping hide its 9% drop in revenue with an 18% surge in operating profit and a near 9% increase to its full year dividend. The FTSE still, however, couldn’t climb back above 7200.
The pound was fairly muted after the bell. Cable dipped 0.1%, taking sterling under $1.304, while against the euro it was down 0.2%, pushing it towards €1.148.
The Eurozone was also pretty quiet. The DAX kept above 11400 as it rose a handful of points, with the CAC knocking on the door of 5200 with a 0.2% increase. How the region performs across the rest of the day could hinge on the morning’s German Ifo business climate reading, one that is expected to dip slightly from 99.1 to 99.0; it is worth noting that the figure has underperformed forecasts for the last 4 months in a row.
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