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Friday Morning Markets: FTSE Rebounds as Oil Slips and Gold Rises

UK stocks rebounded in early trade on Friday as oil slipped and gold rose, with BP and Shell lower and Fresnillo higher, while the FTSE 250 outpaced the FTSE 100.

The FTSE 100 was up 0.7% in early trade, while the FTSE 250 gained 1% after yesterday’s slide. Europe is also higher, with the DAX up 0.6% and the CAC 40 up 0.7%.

Oil slips and gold rises

Spot gold has gained 1.4% to $4,191, while Brent is down 1.1% to $103.11 and WTI has lost 1% to $90.62. Sterling is up 0.1% at 1.3238 against the dollar.

On Iran, Trump said on Truth Social: “We will not be attacking Iran at any time prior to the Midterm Elections to be held in the United States on November 3rd.”

He also said the US blockade of Iranian ports remains. The New York Times, citing unnamed officials, reported Pentagon plans for a three-day strike campaign on Iran. Iranian media also reported “massive explosions” in the southern Strait of Hormuz, which are unverified.

FTSE 100 movers

Vodafone, Airtel Africa and BT were among the biggest fallers. Separately, Airtel Money shares kicked off trading on the London Stock Exchange this morning.

StockMove
RELX+3.16%
Sage+3.16%
Fresnillo+2.98%
Vodafone-3.14%
Airtel Africa-2.20%
BT-1.49%
BP-1.42%
Shell-1.04%

BP fell 1.42% and Shell 1.04% as oil slid, while Fresnillo rose 2.98% with gold and silver. RELX and Sage each gained 3.16%, with no catalyst identified for either in early trade.

FTSE 250: Morgan leads

Morgan Advanced Materials rose 8.49% and Trustpilot 5.05%. Seraphim Space Investment Trust gained 4.91%. Today it announced a $15m investment in Xona Space Systems’ funding round, with the fair value of its existing holding up about £52.2m.

SSP Group fell 4.31% after it reported fourth-quarter like-for-like sales up 4% and a new buyback of up to £50m. Rightmove slipped 2.69% after a strong Thursday rise on takeover speculation. AEP lost 1.73%.

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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