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(Alliance News) - Stocks in London closed higher on Friday, with the FTSE 100 just tipping into the green thanks to a rally by mining stocks on the back of encouraging economic data from China.
The FTSE 100 index closed up just 3.07 points at 7,947.11 on Friday, ending the week up 0.9%.
The FTSE 250 ended up 74.12 points, or 0.4%, at 19,925.77, closing the week up 1.2%. The AIM All-Share closed up 3.68 points, or 0.4%, at 864.97 - finishing up 1.4% over the past five days.
The Cboe UK 100 ended up 0.1% at 795.83, the Cboe UK 250 closed up 0.5% at 17,488.28, and the Cboe Small Companies ended up 0.1% at 13,941.41.
Meanwhile, sterling regained some ground as fresh data revealed positive news for the UK's service sector, which returned to growth in February for the first time in six months.
The pound was quoted at USD1979 at the London equities close on Friday, up from USD1.1949 at the close on Thursday, but pushed back above USD1.20 earlier in the day.
The latest S&P Global/CIPS UK composite purchasing managers' index rose to 53.1 points in February from 48.5 points in January. The latest reading signalled the strongest increase in the private sector since June 2022. It also ends a six-month period of decline.
In the FTSE 100, Glencore, Antofagasta and Rio Tinto were amongst Friday's top performers on the back of further positive data from China.
The stocks were up 1.9%, 2.4%, and 1.2%, respectively.
Growth in China's service sector sped up sharply in February, as business continued to rebound after the rollback of anti-Covid measures.
The Caixin services purchasing managers' index rose to 55.0 points in February from 52.9 in January. It was also markedly higher than FXStreet-cited consensus of 50.5.
Brent oil was quoted at USD85.34 a barrel at the London equities close on Friday, up from USD84.84 late Thursday. Gold was quoted at USD1,845.56 an ounce, higher against USD1,837.58.
Pearson dropped 1.3% despite reporting its annual results were ahead of expectations for the second year in a row, as both revenue and profit rose by double-digit percentages.
The education publisher said pretax profit surged by 82% to GBP323 million in 2022, from GBP177 million in 2021. Sales rose by 12% to GBP3.84 billion from GBP3.43 billion.
Sales were up 8% in Assessment & Qualifications, and up 4% in Virtual Learning. However, in Higher Education sales were down 4% due to a decline in enrolments and a "loss of adoptions to non-mainstream publishers", Pearson explained.
Rightmove lost 2.0% as its annual operating profit and revenue in 2022 fell short of market expectations.
The online real estate agency said operating profit rose 6.7% to GBP241.3 million from GBP226.1 million, underperforming against company-compiled consensus of GBP242.2 million by 0.4%.
Revenue climbed 9.1% to GBP332.6 million from GBP304.9 million, beating company-compiled consensus of GBP330.8 million by 0.5% but falling 5.5% short of a revenue expectation of GBP352.0 million by UBS analysts.
In another blow for the FTSE 100, Arm said it has chosen to float only in New York this year.
The Cambridge, England-based computer-chip designer said it will consider a "subsequent UK listing in due course".
Arm was a London listing and FTSE 100 constituent prior to being acquired by Tokyo-based Softbank Group for GBP24.3 billion in 2016.
The news comes a day after building materials firm CRH said it is planning to move its primary listing to the US.
Victoria Scholar, head of investment at interactive investor, said it was "another kick in the teeth" for Square Mile's attractiveness among international investors.
CRH closed 0.5% lower on Friday.
In European equities on Friday, the CAC 40 in Paris ended up 0.9%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt ended 1.6% higher.
The eurozone economy grew at its strongest pace since June, as private sector activity expanded for the second month in a row.
The seasonally adjusted S&P Global eurozone composite PMI rose to 52.0 points in February, from 50.3 in January. Market consensus, as cited by FXStreet, had expected a reading of 52.3, however.
"February's final Composite PMIs suggests that economic activity in the euro-zone has been fairly resilient in February, with the indices for Spain and Italy, and for the services sector, particularly strong. This should encourage the ECB to press on with further rate hikes," said Adrian Prettejogn, Europe economist at Capital Economics.
The euro stood at USD1.0601 at the European equities close on Friday, lower against USD1.0606 at the same time on Thursday. Against the yen, the dollar was trading at JPY136.21, higher compared to JPY136.15.
Stocks in New York were higher at the London equities close, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.5%, the S&P 500 index up 0.9%, and the Nasdaq Composite up 1.1%.
The US service sector returned to growth in February, bringing to an end a seven-month period of contraction.
The seasonally adjusted final S&P Global US services PMI registered 50.6 in February, up sharply from 46.8 in January and broadly in-line with the earlier flash estimate of 50.5.
Chris William, chief business economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said: "The upturn was led by a revival in spending on services by consumers and improved activity in the tech sector, but was also aided by a marked cooling in the recent downturn in financial services."
Separately, data from the Institute of Supply Management also showed that the US services sector expanded in February.
The ISM services PMI registered 55.1 points, down slightly from the 55.2 registered in January. According to FXStreet, markets had expected the print to land at 54.5.
ISM said this was the second consecutive month of expansion for the services sector. It said that the sector has grown in 32 of the last 33 months, with only a single contraction in December.
In Monday's UK corporate calendar, Craneware, Seeing Machines and Amte Power will publish their half-year results.
In the economic calendar, there are construction PMIs from the EU and the UK.
By Heather Rydings, Alliance News senior economics reporter
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