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(Alliance News) - Stocks in London ended higher on Friday as investors took disappointing PMI data in their stride, bringing a week which saw an aggressive rate hike from the European Central Bank and political turmoil in Italy to a close.
The FTSE 100 index closed up 5.86 points, or 0.1%, at 7,276.37 - ending the week up 1.6%.
The FTSE 250 ended up 115.53 points, or 0.6%, at 19,824.77 and gained 5.3% over the week. The AIM All-Share closed up 2.76 points, or 0.3%, at 905.09 and added 3.5% over the past five days.
The Cboe UK 100 ended up 0.4% at 726.60, the Cboe UK 250 closed up 0.8% at 17,269.38, and the Cboe Small Companies ended up 0.3% at 13,587.85.
In European equities on Friday, the CAC 40 in Paris ended up 0.3%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt ended 0.1% higher.
"European markets appear to be shrugging off concerns over an economic slowdown after the latest flash PMIs showed that economic activity in France and Germany slowed markedly, indicating that the area was at risk of sliding into recessionary territory," said CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson.
"This week's stock market gains appear to be being driven by a calculation that the deteriorating economic outlook may give central bankers pause when it comes to raising rates as aggressively as originally priced," Hewson added.
In the FTSE 100, JD Sports Fashion closed down 0.3%, even as the athletic apparel retailer backed yearly guidance, with sales on the up so far in its financial year.
The Bury, Greater Manchester-based retailer said its "positive performance" continued in June and sales in its like-for-like business during the first five months of its financial year were up 5% annually.
It maintained full-year guidance, expecting headline pretax profit before exceptional items for the current financial year ending January 28 to be "in line" with financial 2022. Pretax profit before exceptional items more than doubled to a record GBP947.2 million in financial 2022 from GBP421.3 million in financial 2021.
Meanwhile, the company explained the search for a new chief executive officer is ongoing.
In the FTSE 250, Beazley ended the best performer, up 8.9%. The insurer reported an interim pretax profit fall, though its combined ratio - signifying underwriting profit - was at its best level in seven years.
Beazley said it "maintained the momentum of the second half of 2021" during the first six months of 2022.
Gross written premiums increased 26% yearly to USD2.55 billion from USD2.04 billion. However, pretax profit declined 87% to USD22.3 million from USD167.3 million.
Expenses increased 23% to USD1.59 billion. That number includes a 22% rise in net insurance claims to USD969.6 million.
"A challenging investment environment has impacted profit; however I'm delighted that we have achieved our best combined ratio at a half year since 2015," Chief Executive Officer Adrian Cox said.
The combined ratio improved to 87% from 94% a year prior. Any ratio below 100% signifies an underwriting profit, so the lower the better.
Peers Lancashire Holdings rose 4.8% and Hiscox rose 1.6% in a positive read-across.
Elsewhere in London, food delivery companies ended in the green following a well-received quarterly update from Frankfurt-listed peer Delivery Hero.
Delivery Hero on Friday lowered its full-year guidance despite posting increases in gross merchandise value and revenue in the second quarter of 2022. However, it said its platform business broke even in May and June. The segment includes Delivery Hero operations in the Americas, Asia, Europe and the Middle East & North Africa.
Delivery Hero shares rose 5.6% in Frankfurt. Deliveroo gained 0.1% while Just Eat Takeaway.com surged 13%.
The dollar was lower across the board. The pound was quoted at USD1.2028 at the London equities close, up from USD1.1958 at the close Thursday.
On the economic front, the UK's private sector remained in expansion territory in July, though growth was the slowest since February 2021. The latest S&P Global composite flash purchasing managers' index fell to 52.8 points in July from June's final tally of 53.7.
The services PMI weakened to 53.3 points in July from 54.3 in June, the lowest figure in 17 months. Growth in the manufacturing sector tumbled to a 25-month low. The PMI figure came in at 52.2 points in July, down from 52.8 in June.
The euro stood at USD1.0223 at the European equities close, up from USD1.0195 late Thursday, despite disappointing PMI data from the continent.
The eurozone private sector went into reverse in July, with manufacturing activity shrinking, while growth in the services economy slowed.
The composite PMI fell to 49.4 points in July, according to the latest S&P Global flash figure, from June's final tally of 52.0. A figure below 50.0 denotes decline. The July score, a 17-month low, represents first time the single currency area's private sector has fallen into negative territory since February 2021.
The manufacturing sector endured a month of woe, with the flash PMI falling to 49.6 points in July from 52.1 in June. July's figure is a 25-month low. The services PMI stayed in growth territory but fell markedly to 50.6 points in July's flash reading from the final 53.0 figure for June. It was the weakest growth since April 2021.
Activity in the German services and manufacturing sectors contracted for the first time in 2022, in the worst performance for over two years.
The flash PMI composite output index dropped below 50 for the first time since December, falling to 48.0 in July from 51.3 in June. The flash services PMI fell to 49.2 from 52.4 the previous month, hitting a seven-month low in July. The flash manufacturing PMI dropped to 49.2, a 25-month low, from 52.0.
Against the yen, the dollar was trading at JPY136.11, down from JPY137.93 late Thursday.
Stocks in New York were mostly higher at the London equities close. The DJIA was up 0.3%, the S&P 500 index up 0.1% and the Nasdaq Composite was down 0.4%.
Dow member American Express Co was up 4.1% in New York after the credit card provider reported an "outstanding" second quarter, driven by strong card spending, and has upped its annual revenue outlook.
Twitter was down 0.6% after the social media platform reported a heavy loss in the second quarter as the firm counted the costs of a protracted and messy takeover battle with Tesla boss Elon Musk.
Brent oil was quoted at USD104.74 a barrel at the equities close, firm from USD103.48 at the close Thursday.
Gold stood at USD1,731.12 an ounce at the London equities close, higher against USD1,710.60 late Thursday, as the dollar weakened.
The economic events calendar on Monday has Germany Ifo business climate index at 0900 BST.
The UK corporate calendar on Monday has interim results from recruiter SThree and a trading statement from telecommunications firm Vodafone.
By Arvind Bhunjun; arvindbhunjun@alliancenews.com
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