The blue-chip FTSE 100 index ended down 0.2% and posted monthly gains of around 0.3%
International News via Reuters:
UK indexes marked a second straight month of gains on Friday, buoyed by hopes that the U.S. and Iran were nearing a deal to extend their ceasefire.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 index ended down 0.2% and posted monthly gains of around 0.3%. The midcap FTSE 250 gained 0.4% on the day and 4.3% for May.
• Shares of Ocado soared 7.1% after supermarket group Asda struck a deal with the technology firm to overhaul its online business across the UK.
• Oil prices slipped nearly 2% after the U.S. and Iran reached an agreement to extend a ceasefire and lift restrictions on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, sources told Reuters. [O/R]
• President Donald Trump said he would make a final decision on Friday.
• Shares of oil majors Shell and BP were mixed. A broader gauge of British energy stocks posted its biggest monthly drop in a year, as crude prices eased.
• Hopes of de-escalation in the U.S.-Iran conflict and easing bets on UK interest rate hikes have buoyed domestic stocks over the past two weeks.
• Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey said that allowing inflation to run above the central bank’s 2% target is justified given the economic uncertainty and reiterated that the BoE had tightened monetary policy by taking rate cuts off the table.
• Money market bets show traders are pricing in at least one 25 bps interest rate hike this year and see a 28% chance of another such move, down from 50% probability earlier this week.
• Shares in UK retailers B&M, Currys, Dunelm, Wickes Group dipped in the range of 0.9% and 2.4% after Deutsche Bank downgraded their ratings, citing weaker consumer spending and confidence.
Reporting by Medha Singh and Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru; Editing by Leroy Leo and Diti Pujara
