FTSE hits best week since June

THE FTSE 100 traded close to neutral all day on Friday as the index was evenly balanced between its winners and losers.

The index finished the day up 2.5 points at 7,122.95, which was enough to ensure the best weekly performance since June.

The trajectory of many of the index’s best and worst performing companies was driven by the news cycle.

Experian helped to drag the index downwards after its chief operating officer and chief financial officer together sold around £3.5 million worth of shares in the business.

Packaging company Mondi’s shares were also sharply down, despite an upgrade in its target price by Credit Suisse.

But bottom of the index was Hikma Pharmaceutical, which was badly hit despite upgrading the outlook for its generic medicines unit.

But they were evened out by a strong performance from Flutter Entertainment, among others.

Rating agency Moody’s on Friday released a statement on Flutter, but the gambling company’s credit score will not be impacted at this point by a Kentucky Supreme Court case that the company is involved in.

The London Stock Exchange’s financial results also lifted its shares to the top of the index, while Prudential also soared after it submitted a plan to authorities on the demerger of its US subsidiary Jackson Financial.

They were joined by the banks after a strong jobs showing in the US on Friday.

The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were London Stock Exchange, up 376p to 7,844p, Flutter Entertainment, up 360p to 12,720p, Prudential, up 37p to 1,426.5p, Natwest Group, up 4.7p to 215.7p, and Evraz, up 12.6p to 613.6p.

The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were Hikma, down 187p to 2,455p, United Utilities, down 128p to 3,099p, CocaCola HBC, down 85p to 2,693p, Mondi, down 62p to 2,006p, and Fresnillo, down 21.6p to 793.8p.