London’s blue-chip index closed modestly higher on Friday, finishing the session at 10,816, up 23 points or 0.2%, ahead of the bank holiday weekend.
The FTSE 100 reached a session high of 10,844.99 earlier in the day before easing back as trading volumes thinned and investors adopted a cautious stance going into the long weekend.
All eyes shifted to Wyoming, where Federal Reserve chair Kevin Warsh delivered his first Jackson Hole address, with markets seeking clarity after his muddled message at the last policy meeting left investors uncertain about the direction of US interest rates.
Treasury yields held steady but remained within touching distance of multiyear highs, keeping inflation concerns alive as US rate-setters remained split and inflation stayed stubbornly above target.
Wall Street futures idled ahead of the address, with the Nasdaq easing back after Thursday’s technology-driven surge powered by Nvidia’s bullish outlook and a barnstorming session for Salesforce.
SSE led the FTSE 100 risers, climbing 1.97% to 2,428p, with Investec and Croda International each gaining 1.78% and Melrose Industries advancing 1.69%.
Mining stocks also provided meaningful support, with Weir Group rising 1.54%, Antofagasta gaining 1.49%, Anglo American adding 1.41% and Endeavour Mining advancing 1.31%.
BAE Systems fell 1.96% and Babcock International dropped 1.34%, with both defence companies weakening following reports that the government could delay its target of raising defence spending to 3% of gross domestic product by 2030.
Airtel Africa was the FTSE 100’s largest faller, dropping 2.12%, while Sage lost 1.77% and Auto Trader, Experian and Kingfisher each fell between 1.5% and 1.6%.
Goodwin led the FTSE 250 risers with a 6.26% gain to 19,340p following record annual results, with revenue increasing 27% to £280 million and trading profit more than doubling to £77.5 million.
Recruiter Hays strengthened 5.06%, while HgCapital Trust (LSE:HGT), Ithaca Energy and Atalaya Mining each gained between 2.7% and 3%.
McBride was one of the standout performers across the broader market, extending its gain to 17.2% and reaching 196.2p after announcing a long-term manufacturing partnership with Vestacy.
The agreements with Vestacy are expected to generate £170 million in annual revenue at maturity during the second half of the year ending June 2028, increasing McBride’s group revenue by approximately 15%.
On AIM, Sunda Energy surged 30.44% and Kooth accelerated to a 12.31% advance, though no fresh regulatory announcements were identified to explain either move.
London’s earlier session rebound was supported by the Lloyds Business Barometer, which showed UK business confidence rising by 4 points to 53% in August, its highest level since March.
The overnight rally on Wall Street also provided a positive backdrop, with Nvidia jumping 8.7% after quarterly results reinforced confidence in artificial intelligence investment and Salesforce surging 22.6%.
The Nasdaq Composite closed 1.6% higher, the S&P 500 gained 0.7% and the Dow Jones advanced 0.2% in the previous session.
Asian markets were mostly positive heading into the London session, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 rising 0.8%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gaining 0.3% and Taiwan’s Taiex advancing 1%.
Commodity markets were mixed, with Brent crude easing 0.3% to approximately US$88.24 a barrel, gold futures falling 0.5% to around US$4,639 an ounce and copper adding 0.2% to US$6.60 per pound.
Bitcoin traded near US$79,833, up approximately 1.5%, after moving as high as US$81,280 during the session.