Jan 30 (Reuters) - Heavyweight banking stocks led London's FTSE 100 higher on Friday, putting the index on track for a seventh consecutive month of gains, while investors assessed the appointment of
FTSE 100 Achieves Longest Monthly Winning Streak in Over a Decade
FTSE 100 Performance Overview
By Tharuniyaa Lakshmi
Impact of Weaker Pound
Jan 30 (Reuters) - London's FTSE 100 rose on Friday, capping its seventh straight month of gains, lifted by a rally in banking stocks and a weaker pound as investors assessed the appointment of Kevin Warsh as the next chair of the U.S. Federal Reserve.
Banking Sector Gains
The blue-chip index closed up 0.5%, marking its longest monthly winning streak in more than 12 years. It also posted weekly gains after logging losses last week.
Business Confidence Insights
The domestically focused FTSE 250 was little changed on the day and ended the week lower, but also posted gains for the month.
The pound traded 0.6% lower against the U.S. dollar, offering support to the FTSE 100’s export-orientated companies even as commodity prices slumped.
"The weaker pound is obviously beneficial for the multinationals and it’s interesting because given that the commodities market is actually selling off, you’d normally expect that to weigh quite heavily on the FTSE, but we're still seeing the index hold up,” said Fiona Cincotta, senior market analyst at City Index.
The banking sub-index added 3.5% for the week and 5.3% for the month. It was 1.6% higher on the day, with Lloyds up 3.3%, the strongest performer on the benchmark index.
U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday said he had chosen former Federal Reserve governor Kevin Warsh to head the U.S. central bank.
Precious metals miners fell 6% as gold tumbled more than 8% on a firmer dollar following Trump’s announcement. The sub-index is still up 19% this month. [GOL/]
Industrial metal miners declined 2% on the day.
Trump warned it was "dangerous" for Britain to deepen business ties with Beijing, as Prime Minister Keir Starmer lauded the economic benefits of resetting UK-China relations during his visit to the country.
British business confidence weakened in January as global economic optimism slid to a one-year low, though firms grew more upbeat about their own activity and hiring plans, a Lloyds survey showed.
Credit analytics firm Experian climbed 2.3%, among the top gainers on the FTSE 100, after unveiling a new $1 billion share buyback program.
(Reporting by Tharuniyaa Lakshmi in Bengaluru; Editing by Sahal Muhammed, Kirsten Donovan)
