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* FTSE 100 up 0.8%, FTSE 250 gains 6%
* Oil majors boost FTSE 100
* Marks & Spencer sinks after warnings of virus hit
(Updates with closing price)
By Sruthi Shankar
March 20 (Reuters) - UK shares managed to end a tumultuous
week in positive territory on Friday, as investors pinned hopes
on more stimulus actions as the coronavirus pandemic continued
to wreak havoc on global growth.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 closed up 0.8%, buoyed by oil
majors Royal Dutch Shell and BP, but the index
logged its sixth straight week of decline.
The midcap FTSE 250 index jumped 6%, although far
from erasing its weekly losses as domestic firms took a hit from
measures put in place to minimise social interaction.
However, markets across the globe stabilised somewhat on
Friday, as central banks and governments took extraordinary
measures to support businesses and the economy.
Britain's government will pay firms hit by the outbreak not
to lay off workers, finance minister Rishi Sunak said on Friday,
adding it would give grants to cover 80% of a worker's salary if
businesses kept them on staff.
"It's clearly a day where some people have decided to cover
their shorts, and there's some kind of a relief rally," said
Chris Bailey, European strategist at Raymond James in London.
"I don't think there's much aggressive buying, but the broad
environment has gotten a bit better."
The Bank of England made its second emergency move in
cutting borrowing costs to a record low on Thursday and
promised 200 billion pounds of additional bond purchases, on top
of several other measures.
Travel stocks that have taken a heavy hit in the past weeks
including Carnival Corp and Easyjet and IAG
rose between 10% and 20%, while Holiday Inn owner IHG
jumped 15.4% after it announced a series of measures to
cut costs and ride out travel restrictions.
Pub group J D Wetherspoon surged 25%, alongside
peers Marston's and Mitchells & Butlers, even
as it cancelled its dividend and said profit would be below
market expectations.
Their shares took a heavy beating earlier this week after
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson asked people to avoid
cafes, pubs and restaurants across the country. On Friday,
Johnson ordered indefinite shut.
Trading platform CMC Markets jumped 14.8% as it
boosted its annual earnings target amid frantic selling driven
by the coronavirus.
Publisher Future Plc surged 40.7% to the top of the
midcap index after upbeat earnings forecast.
In a weak spot, retailer Marks & Spencer dropped
7.1% as it warned trading over the next nine to 12 months in its
clothing, homewares and international businesses was likely to
be "severely impacted" by the pandemic.
In a client note, Unicredit's lead equity analyst told
investors to be wary of relief rallies.
"Companies have only just begun lowering earnings forecasts.
Further negative revisions of up to 30% or more should be
expected as well as significantly lower dividend payments this
year and next," Unicredit's Christian Stocker said.
(Reporting by Sruthi Shankar and Devik Jain in Bengaluru;
Editing by Anil D'Silva and Giles Elgood)
