LONDON: Britain’s FTSE 100 clocked in biggest percentage gain since last October, as upbeat earnings from European luxury firms boosted shares of Burberry and Diageo, while investors took comfort from data that showed UK consumer sentiment hit a two-year high.
The FTSE 100 climbed 1.4% on Friday to log its first weekly gain of the year and the biggest in more than four months. The midcap FTSE 250 index also rose 0.6%, marking its biggest weekly gain in six weeks.
British luxury retailer Burberry climbed 4.9%, after French luxury giant LVMH reported a 10% rise in fourth-quarter sales, reassuring investors about the sector’s resilience to economic headwinds, particularly in China.
“LVMH’s latest update flagged slowing sales growth for its product range but the company struck a confident tone, giving a lift to luxury-related stocks,” said Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell. The personal goods sub-index jumped 4.2%,…
