The FTSE 100 opened 37.30 points higher at 10,609.54 amid continued US strikes on Iran, which weighed on investor sentiment, after a sharp sell-off across Asian markets added to the risk-off mood. Meanwhile, Brent crude futures rose 0.44% to $84.60 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) advanced 0.94% to $79.69 a barrel.
Sterling was quoted at $1.3465 early Friday, lower than $1.3483 at the London equities close on Thursday. Against the euro, sterling fell to €1.1768 from €1.3558 a day earlier.
On the upside, Vodafone Group rose 3.57% to £120.40, while British American Tobacco advanced 2.67% to £4,656. Severn Trent gained 2.42% to £3,052, and National Grid climbed 2.34% to £1,245. BT Group added 2.30% to £197.90, while United Utilities Group climbed 2.22% to £1,381.
On the downside, Lion Finance Group declined 1.66% to £11,280, while Games Workshop Group slipped 0.79% to £20,120. Antofagasta fell 2.48% to £3,499, and Anglo American declined by 2.24% to £3,407. Rio Tinto dropped 1.01% to £6,673, while Spirax Group eased 0.94% to £6,865.
Burberry upgraded its revenue estimates for the first half of the year after demand in the US market helped offset headwinds in Europe.
The luxury fashion house revealed its revenue increased 5% to £455 million in the first quarter. Revenue was up 12% in the US, closely followed by 9%growth in Greater China.
Wholesale revenue was upgraded on the back of the first-quarter performance and is expected to grow by a “high-single-digit percentage” in the first half.
The global payments company, Wise, posted first-quarter net revenue of $714 million, up 25% from last year, with cross-border volume jumping 26% to $69.3 billion.
Active customers rose 21% to 11.9 million, while customer holdings grew 31% to $41.2 billion. The average fee dropped to just 0.50%, the lowest in Wise's history, and 77% of transactions now arrive instantly, up from 70% a year ago.
Full-year guidance was reiterated, with revenue growth expected around the middle of its 15%-20% target range and margins near the top of the 20%-25% range.
Bridgepoint’s earnings surged after growth in management fees and performance-related earnings. Earnings before tax jumped 77.6% to £227.3 million in the first half of the year, up from £128 million the previous year.
This was driven by a 22.8% rise in management fees to £254.4 million and performance-related earnings more than doubling to £120.7 million.
Assets under management rose 12.4% to £72.3 billion. The group declared an interim dividend of £4.8 per share.
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In the US, Wall Street ended lower. The Nasdaq fell 1.5%, while the S&P 500 lost 0.5% and the Dow Jones declined 0.2%.
In Asia on Thursday, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 fell 4.03% to 64,141.14, while China’s Shanghai Composite dipped 3.05%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng declined 2.15%, and South Korea’s Kospi fell 6.37%. In India, both the Nifty 50 and the Sensex rose by 0.87% and 1.04%, respectively.
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