FTSE rises for fourth day, Rolls Royce rallies

Carnival up as Royal Caribbean raises profit forecasts

LONDON ( Reuters) – Britain’s top equity index gained ground for the fourth day in a row on Friday, lifted by a rise in the shares of engine maker Rolls Royce and cruise ship company Carnival.

The blue- chip FTSE 100 index closed up 0.4 percent at 6,696.28 points. The FTSE is up around 2% since the start of 2015 but some 6% below a record high of 7,122.74 points set in April.

Rolls Royce rose 5.9%, the best- performing FTSE 100 stock in percentage terms, after ValueAct Capital Master Fund took a stake of around 5%.

Carnival also climbed 5.2% after its rival Royal Caribbean increased its annual profit forecast.

ITV rose 3.4% after cable operator Liberty Global increased its ITV stake to 9.9% but said it still had no intention of taking it over.

Ryan Mitchell, senior investment manager at Logic Investments, said he was going “long” by betting on the FTSE rising up to 6,900 points, although he cautioned that persistent concerns over Chinese economic growth remained a risk.

“The FTSE looks well supported due to some good earnings that have come out lately. I’d be looking to buy any dip in the market,” he said.

China is the world’s biggest metals consumer but a sharp sell-off in its stock market over the last few weeks has raised concerns over its economy.

This in turn has affected mining stocks. Miners such as Antofagasta and Glencore missed out on the broader market rally on Friday, falling back as copper and metals prices dropped on worries about demand in China.

“With Chinese shares seeing their worst month in six years, it’s hardly surprising that investors aren’t keen to hold onto their commodity shares going into August,” Spreadex analyst Connor Campbell said.