Source: Sharecast
A spokesman for Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic speaker of the US House of Representatives, reportedly said that Trump wanted a comprehensive package, with White House spokeswoman, Alyssa Farah, later saying the administration was "open to going with something bigger".
Against that backdrop, the FTSE 100 rose 0.72% to 6,021.27, while the FTSE 250 was ahead by 0.53% at 18,041.28.
Investors were also digesting the latest UK gross domestic data published earlier in the UK.
According to the Office for National Statistics, GDP expanded at a month-on-month pace of 2.1% in August, falling short of economists' forecasts for a rise of 4.6%.
That left the level of economic activity in the country 9.2% below where it stood in February, before the Covid-19 pandemic hit.
Iain Shepherdson at Pantheon Macroeconomics said that meant the Monetary Policy Committee's own projections for third quarter GDP to only be 7.0% below its pre-Covid 19 level at the end of the third quarter would not be met.
Construction sector output was strongest, increasing by 3.0% versus July and taking the three-month/three-month rate of change changed from -11.6% in July to 18.5% for last month.
Hence, it was "very likely" that the MPC would extend its quantitative easing programme at either its November or December meetings.
Later in the day, Chancellor Rishi Sunak was expected to unveil a new job support programme for those businesses which might be forced to close their doors because of tighter coronavirus restrictions.
According to Pantheon Macroeconomics's Ian Shepherdson, the "sudden explosion" of novel coronavirus cases in the UK meant the country was now on course to overtake Spain and possible France too in the coming days.
Shepherdson did also note that the test positivity rate in Britain was much lower than in France, at just over half that level.
However, he added that: "Hospitalizations are soaring too, and new restrictions on the hospitality sector, likely including a temporary shutdown in some regions, are coming."
LSE hives off Borsa Italiana
London Stock Exchange has agreed the sale of Borsa Italiana for about €4.32bn (£3.9bn) to Euronext, the company said on Friday. The company is selling Borsa Italiana to get approval for its $27bn purchase of financial data business Refinitiv, announced in August 2019. LSE chief executive David Schwimmer said the company continued to make good progress on the “highly attractive” Refinitiv transaction.
British Land reinstated its dividend after performance at its retail assets improved following the Covid-19 lockdown. The commercial property company said it would announce an interim divided in November and that payouts would be 80% of underlying earnings per share. It will pay the dividend twice a year instead of quarterly. British Land suspended the dividend in March to protect its finances as much of the UK economy shut down to stem the spread of Covid-19. The FTSE 100 company said performance measures at its buildings had improved since non-essential retailers were allowed to reopen in June.
Biffa has acquired the industrial and commercial waste collection business Simply Waste Solutions, it announced on Friday, which focuses on the south of England. The FTSE 250 company said it had acquired all of the share capital of Camo, which trades under the Simply Waste brand, for an upfront debt and cash free consideration of £ 35m. That was being funded from existing committed debt facilities.
Treatt said it would pay a final dividend in line with policy and that it was cautiously optimistic about the outlook for the current year. The ingredients supplier said profit for the year to the end of September was in line with expectations before the Covid-19 crisis, helped by 16% revenue growth for health and wellness products.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 6,006.02 0.47%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 18,018.02 0.40%
techMARK (TASX) 3,869.10 0.20%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 228.30p 16.87%
British Land Company (BLND) 388.20p 5.69%
Pearson (PSON) 566.80p 4.04%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 572.50p 3.79%
M&G (MNG) 167.05p 3.47%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,945.20p 3.26%
GVC Holdings (GVC) 1,083.00p 3.14%
Compass Group (CPG) 1,247.00p 2.80%
Polymetal International (POLY) 1,705.50p 2.37%
Glencore (GLEN) 173.68p 2.30%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Ocado Group (OCDO) 2,383.00p -3.13%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 104.45p -2.84%
Pennon Group (PNN) 1,007.00p -1.95%
Persimmon (PSN) 2,575.00p -1.76%
SSE (SSE) 1,301.00p -1.51%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 2,925.00p -1.28%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 883.40p -1.27%
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 4,468.00p -1.22%
Severn Trent (SVT) 2,462.00p -1.01%
National Grid (NG.) 932.60p -0.96%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 237.60p 5.60%
Mitchells & Butlers (MAB) 146.00p 4.58%
Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 534.60p 4.54%
Network International Holdings (NETW) 307.00p 4.21%
SSP Group (SSPG) 209.60p 4.07%
Redrow (RDW) 476.20p 3.75%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 99.32p 3.67%
Biffa (BIFF) 235.50p 3.52%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 180.70p 3.49%
PZ Cussons (PZC) 247.00p 3.35%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Trainline (TRN) 368.80p -4.60%
Renishaw (RSW) 5,730.00p -2.96%
Dixons Carphone (DC.) 97.80p -2.88%
Ninety One (N91) 209.60p -2.78%
Close Brothers Group (CBG) 1,067.00p -2.73%
Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 3,224.00p -2.66%
Dunelm Group (DNLM) 1,523.00p -2.43%
Vistry Group (VTY) 609.00p -2.17%
Petropavlovsk (POG) 32.00p -2.14%
PureTech Health (PRTC) 253.50p -2.12%
