(Reuters) – Britain’s FTSE 100 bucked the global gloom on Friday, driven by earnings-related movements in several stocks, including IAG, even as investors eagerly anticipate a crucial U.S. inflation reading scheduled for later in the day.
The blue-chip index was up 0.3% by 1111 GMT, heading for its fourth consecutive day of gains and a weekly gain of more than 1%.
British Airways parent IAG climbed 5% after reporting a 27% surge in annual operating profit, exceeding market forecasts, alongside plans for share buybacks.
Engineering firm IMI rose 5.2% following the announcement of a 10% dividend hike from 2023 levels and a new share buyback program.
After surging more than 6% in January, the blue-chip index is poised to close February with a modest gain of over 1%, maintaining its positive momentum in 2025.
Other bourses in Europe, meanwhile, were under pressure after President Trump announced that a 25% tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico would start on March 4, and that goods from China would incur an additional 10% duty.
This week he also floated the idea of 25% tariffs on shipments from the European Union.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index and Germany’s DAX were down 0.3% each.
Back in the UK, the FTSE 250 midcap index lost 0.4% with shares of semiconductor parts supplier Morgan Advanced Materials tumbling 17.4% after the company forecast a drop in organic revenue this year.
A gauge of homebuilders gained 1.4% after data showed British house prices rose by a stronger-than-expected 0.4% in February compared with January.
Focus would now shift to the U.S. Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE) data later in the day, which could provide insights into potential monetary policy decisions for the world’s largest economy.
(Reporting by Ragini Mathur and Shashwat Chauhan in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid)
