Source: Sharecast
LSEG was the top gainer on the index, having surged on Thursday on the back of strong quarterly results and news it will sell a 20% stake in its clearing unit, Post Trade Solutions, to a group of banks, in a deal that values the business at £850m.
NatWest shares jumped after the banking group raised its income and returns guidance for 2025 following a strong performance in the third quarter, helped by "healthy levels of customer activity".
The lender said it now expects income excluding notable items to be around £16.3bn this year, up from earlier projections of at least £16.0bn, and to achieve a return on tangible equity of greater than 18.0%, up from 16.5%.
Elsewhere, B&Q and Castorama owner Kingfisher rallied after RBC Capital Markets upgraded the stock to ‘outperform’ from ‘sector perform’ and lifted the price target to 350p from 320p.
"Our store potential analysis suggests further space growth opportunities for KGF in the UK and Poland, with likely further strong trade and ecom growth," it said.
"We are positive on its gross margin outlook, while Poland recovery should offset a tough French market. 12x CY26e price-to-earnings looks undemanding given KGF's strong EPS growth and cash returns."
FTSE 100 - Risers
London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) 9,754.00p 4.37%
NATWEST GROUP (NWG) 564.80p 3.52%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,301.50p 2.04%
Diploma (DPLM) 5,665.00p 1.98%
Compass Group (CPG) 2,640.00p 1.93%
Tesco (TSCO) 454.20p 1.93%
Relx plc (REL) 3,510.00p 1.80%
Next (NXT) 13,355.00p 1.52%
Kingfisher (KGF) 315.80p 1.51%
3i Group (III) 4,414.00p 1.38%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Metlen Energy & Metals (MTLN) 42.53p -3.90%
GSK (GSK) 1,620.50p -1.58%
Fresnillo (FRES) 2,160.00p -1.37%
LondonMetric Property (LMP) 195.90p -1.31%
SSE (SSE) 1,886.00p -1.18%
Barclays (BARC) 382.70p -1.03%
Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (DI) (CCEP) 6,840.00p -1.01%
BAE Systems (BA.) 1,855.00p -0.88%
Airtel Africa (AAF) 228.40p -0.87%
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 1,755.00p -0.85%