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Friday Morning Markets: FTSE 100 Higher as Brent Climbs, FTSE 250 Slips

The FTSE 100 is higher and the FTSE 250 lower in early trade on Friday, with oil up and AstraZeneca, NatWest and Airtel Africa, all of which have reported results, among the movers.

The FTSE 100 was up 0.5% at about 08:50 UK time on Friday, while the FTSE 250 was down 0.3%, as Brent crude rose.

The UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) says a tanker was attacked with explosive devices in the Strait of Hormuz and the crew is safe. Brent was up 2.1% at $113.07 for the January contract and WTI up 1.8% at $103.07 for December.

The DAX was down 0.2%, the CAC 40 up 0.2% and the Stoxx 50 down 0.7%. Gold was down 0.9% at $3,986, and GBPUSD was up 0.3% at 1.3416.

StockIndexPriceMove
BT GroupFTSE 100222.55p+4.46%
AstraZenecaFTSE 10013,446p+3.03%
PrudentialFTSE 100930.10p+2.88%
Airtel AfricaFTSE 100260.80p-4.81%
FresnilloFTSE 1002,257p-4.37%
Polar Capital Technology TrustFTSE 100604.50p-3.89%
NatWestFTSE 100612.90p-3.53%
SDCL Efficiency Income TrustFTSE 25032.30p+2.65%
RightmoveFTSE 250524.40p+2.38%
EnQuestFTSE 25032.08p+1.91%
Ceres PowerFTSE 250256.70p-7.55%
Raspberry PiFTSE 250550.50p-5.50%
Hochschild MiningFTSE 250425.50p-4.75%

AstraZeneca is one of the top FTSE 100 risers this morning after it reported third-quarter results with revenue of $16,209m, up 7% at constant exchange rates (CER), and Core EPS $2.79, up 19% at CER. It reconfirmed full-year guidance.

NatWest’s third-quarter update led to a share price decline after it reported attributable profit of £1,532m, with impairments (bad-loan charges) of £277m versus £140m in the second quarter. CEO Paul Thwaite called it “another strong performance in the third quarter”.

Airtel Africa has also tumbled after half-year revenue rose 28.2% to $3,823m and profit after tax rose to $452m from $376m.

BT is the top FTSE 100 riser. The FT reported earlier today that Virgin Media O2 is nearing a deal to use BT’s broadband network.

Eurozone GDP flash is due at 10:00 UK time and German CPI at 13:00.

Sam Boughedda
Sam Boughedda
Team Member

Sam is a trader and lead stock market writer at AskTraders. After starting his career in the forex market, Sam now focuses on stocks, specifically consumer staples. 

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