(Sharecast News) - London stocks were still in the black by midday on Friday, having taken their cue from an upbeat session on Wall Street, as investors eyed a speech by new Federal Reserve chair Kevin Warsh at the Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium in Wyoming.
The FTSE 100 was up 0.2% at 10,810.26. Brent crude was 0.2% higher at $89.85 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate was down 0.3% at $83.26.
Investors will be looking for any hints about monetary policy going forward from Warsh, who has so far been tight-lipped when it comes to his views on the US economy.
Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell, said: "While it may not be replete with the technology names which have enjoyed a big comeback in recent days, the FTSE 100 was still on course for a positive end to the week,
"Strong numbers from Nvidia and other tech sector constituents like Crowdstrike and Salesforce have helped shore up market sentiment, supported by some hints at dampened tensions in the Middle East.
"The next test of investors' mettle will come later when Federal Reserve chair Kevin Warsh addresses the Jackson Hole Symposium of central bankers and politicians. While immediate concerns about levels of government debt may have eased, with bond yields coming back down, the underlying issues haven't gone away.
"The market will want to see some evidence that Warsh has a plan on how to tackle inflationary pressures and will also be hungry for visibility on the likely trajectory of interest rates.
"Having shot back above $90 per barrel yesterday on suggestions from Washington that there are no live negotiations with Iran, the price of oil has settled back below this threshold on signs that some exports from the Gulf are making it through."
Unsurprisingly, there was a dearth of UK corporate news as we head into the Bank Holiday weekend.
Utilities were among the top performers on the FTSE 100, with SSE, British Gas owner Centrica and Severn Trent all up.
Miners Anglo American and Antofagasta also gained, while Melrose Industries rose again, having announced earlier in the week that the Orange County District Attorney had closed its criminal investigation into an incident at the GKN Aerospace Garden Grove facility with no charges.
On the downside, BAE Systems and Babcock both lost ground on news that new chancellor John Healey will delay setting out when the UK will meet the target of spending 3% of GDP on defence until next year's spending review.
His first budget in October will focus instead on funding the defence investment plan.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 10,810.26 0.16%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 24,948.59 0.20%
techMARK (TASX) 6,198.49 -0.27%
FTSE 100 - Risers
SSE (SSE) 2,428.00p 2.02%
Investec (INVP) 657.00p 1.94%
Croda International (CRDA) 3,491.00p 1.84%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 517.40p 1.69%
Anglo American (AAL) 4,301.00p 1.44%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 4,092.00p 1.41%
HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 1,521.60p 1.26%
Severn Trent (SVT) 3,136.00p 1.23%
Spirax Group (SPX) 7,215.00p 1.19%
Centrica (CNA) 155.90p 1.13%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 85.46p -2.37%
Airtel Africa (AAF) 332.80p -2.12%
BAE Systems (BA.) 2,054.00p -1.77%
The Sage Group (SGE) 1,084.00p -1.77%
Autotrader Group (AUTO) 528.20p -1.64%
Kingfisher (KGF) 313.60p -1.48%
Experian (EXPN) 2,996.00p -1.41%
Relx plc (REL) 2,632.00p -1.35%
Babcock International Group (BAB) 1,068.00p -1.25%
Admiral Group (ADM) 4,028.00p -1.18%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Hays (HAS) 76.70p 5.27%
Ithaca Energy (ITH) 279.40p 3.13%
Michael Page (PAGE) 223.00p 2.67%
THG (THG) 35.42p 2.19%
HGCapital Trust (HGT) 444.00p 2.07%
Energean (ENOG) 740.00p 2.07%
Halfords Group (HFD) 272.50p 2.06%
AEP Plantations (AEP) 199.20p 2.05%
Victrex plc (VCT) 848.00p 2.04%
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 2,268.00p 1.98%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Trainline (TRN) 197.10p -2.71%
Mony Group (MONY) 201.40p -2.03%
Baltic Classifieds Group (BCG) 212.60p -2.03%
Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) 178.10p -1.88%
Vistry Group (VTY) 297.00p -1.85%
Rightmove (RMV) 504.00p -1.83%
B&M European Value Retail (BME) 240.00p -1.56%
WPP (WPP) 379.00p -1.46%
Globaldata (DATA) 83.10p -1.42%
Dunelm Group (DNLM) 860.50p -1.32%
21.20 (0.20%)
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