UK FTSE holds around 5-year high
A trader monitors the screen on a trading floor in London. A trader monitors the screen on a trading floor in London.
London - Britain's top share index opened flat on Friday, holding around five-year highs, with trading likely to be choppy ahead of options and futures expires later in the session.
The FTSE 100 was down 2.35 points at 6,527.06 by 10:07 SA time, pegged back by a retreat from banks, having risen 0.7 percent on Thursday after better-than-expected US weekly jobless claims data.
The index was on course to post its fifth consecutive week of gains, although trade could be volatile on Friday ahead of triple-witching expires at 12:15 SA time.
“(It's) quarterly expiry in the UK today and all shorts have thrown in the towel or are about to,” said Lex van Dam, hedge fund manager at Hampstead Capital, which manages around $500 million assets.
“The question is, at what point will large institutional investors such as pension funds be forced to buy as well?” - Reuters