FX.co ★ FTSE 100 Rises As Services PMI Improves

UK stocks experienced a hike on Friday following a critical survey that presented a bright picture of Britain's economy. It showed that the economy is efficiently bouncing back from last year's mild recession due to rapid growth in the dominant services sector - the quickest pace seen in almost a year.

The S&P Global UK Services PMI, a principal indicator of economic activity, registered an upward growth to 55.0 in April. This is a significant increase from its preliminary reading of 54.9 and higher than March's 53.1. Notably, this was its maximum level since May 2023 and also indicates a record of the sixth consecutive month of growth.

The standard FTSE 100 index rose by 30 points or 0.4 percent, reaching 8,202, succeeding a 0.6 percent gain the previous day, driven by robust earnings.

Anglo American, the mining company, saw its shares skyrocket by more than 3 percent following reports that the commodities group Glencore is contemplating a competitive bid for the corporation.

Shares in Trainline, the company offering a digital platform for procuring rail and bus tickets, surged by 8 percent after its annual earnings showed an improvement. Additionally, the company announced its plans to buy back more shares over the following 12 months.

Shares in the publishing company Future also enjoyed an increase of 2.7 percent after announcing the appointment of Sharjeel Suleman as its Chief Financial Officer.