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Divestment speculation gave a Friday boost to London Stock Exchange Group.
The exchange operator rose after rival Euronext confirmed plans to submit an offer to buy Borsa Italiana, the Italian stock exchange, for an expected value of €3.5bn (£3.2bn) to €4bn. Euronext said further details would be announced when appropriate.
Analysts say shedding Borsa Italiana is expected to help LSE ensure its $27bn (£21bn) takeover deal for financial data giant Refinitiv, which has come under the attention of regulators.
The FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 ended the day almost flat as a shaky week for currencies and stocks closed on a calm note.
Fashion house Burberry climbed 55.5p to £15.50 after sources told Bloomberg the group is expected to sell a five-year dated sustainability bond on Monday, following a string of investor calls.
Rio Tinto shares were unruffled by the exit of chief executive Jean-Sebastien Jacques in the wake of a scandal over the group’s destruction of an Aboriginal heritage site. The iron-focused miner rose 208p to £49.92, a 4pc rise that was in line with a broad upswing for miners that also lifted Glencore by 7.2p to 182p and Anglo American by 83p to £19.46.
Rolls-Royce received a boost from broker Berenberg upgrading it from “hold” to “buy”, saying the engine maker has been “oversold”. Analysts revised their price target for the firm from 890p to 270p, but said the market was “unjustified” in “giving up on Rolls”, adding that the current share price implies a “negative value for the civil aerospace business”.
Rolls’s shares have fallen from close to 700p in February. They ended at 210p yesterday, up 1.7p on the day, although after the close S&P downgraded the engineer’s debt rating, pushing it deeper into junk territory amid the collapse in air travel.
On the FTSE 250, emerging markets-focused investment manager Ashmore fell 14p to 377.6p after saying its assets under management had fallen 9pc despite a rise in full-year revenue and profit. The group reported a pre-tax profit of £221.5m, up 1pc.
Mark Coombs, the chief executive, said Ashmore’s performance had been solid against the backdrop of “significant market dislocation” caused by Covid-19. Citi’s Samarth Agrawal said the group’s earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amoritsation were lower than expected, adding the results “indicate that recovery in flows would be delayed, and flow mix will result in pressure in fee margins”.
Royal Mail climbed 13.2p to 233.7p after JP Morgan analysts hiked their rating to 253p, and upgraded it to “neutral” from “underweight”. The analysts said the postal group’s prospects were “far from certain”, but reckoned its recent parcel trading strength had bought the company some time.
Cineworld ended what had been a poor week for its shares with a solid performance, rising 2.5p to 52p. Until Friday, it was the week’s worst main-market performer, with a middling open for highly anticipated Christopher Nolan film Tenet cementing a sense of gloom.
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