ondon’s top index inched higher as the pound sank to its lowest for 10 weeks.Sterling has been on a downward path over the past week amid fresh speculation from analysts that the Bank of England will pause recent interest rate rises after its September meeting.
It lost some steam against the dollar on Friday as the US currency was boosted by Federal Reserve boss Jerome Powell signalling that there is still scope for increasing interest rates again.
The pound was down 0.21% to 1.257 US dollars but was 0.06% higher at 1.165 euros at market close in London.
The FTSE 100 moved 0.07%, or 4.95 points, higher to finish at 7,338.58 as London’s multinational firms were boosted by the currency movement.
Elsewhere in Europe, the other main markets also moved marginally higher amid a fairly muted response to the Fed chair’s speech, which largely went over familiar ground.
Germany’s Dax index was 0.07% higher for the day and the Cac 40 closed up 0.21%.
Alex Rudolph, senior market analyst at IG, said: “Powell’s keynote speech at the Jackson Hole symposium was a bit of a damp squib as he tried to please both doves and hawks.
“After some initial volatility during the speech equity indices declined again but European indices still managed to end the week in positive territory.”
US stocks opened modestly higher on the back of Mr Powell’s comments, after weakness at the end of Thursday trading.
In company news, Watches of Switzerland ticked firmly lower after it was shaken by news that its biggest supplier bought a rival chain.
Swiss watch giant Rolex revealed its first big foray into retail by sealing a deal to snap up the Bucherer chain.
Analysts warned that the move could impact Watches of Switzerland, which saw over half of revenues come from Rolex watches. Shares fell 145p lower to 548.5p as a result.
Elsewhere, trading platform CMC Markets was another significant faller after it warned over profits due to “subdued market conditions”.
It said income for the year would be between £250 million and £280 million, down from the previous prediction of £280 million to £290 million as it suffers a particularly tricky August.
Shares fell by 11.8p to 110.2p by the close of play.
Aston Martin Lagonda shares had a lift after brokers from Jefferies upgraded the stock on an improving balance sheet and optimism about its growth outlook.
The luxury car maker saw shares rise 17.2p to 338p.
The price of oil edged higher for the session but it was little relief as it finished lower for the week in the face of worries over China’s economy and therefore energy demand.
A barrel of Brent crude rose by 0.9% to 84.2 US dollars as markets were closing in London.
The biggest risers in the FTSE 100 were Tesco, up 4.9p at 260.1p, Smurfit Kappa, up 56p at 3,148p, Melrose Industries, up 7p at 508.8p, Intertek, up 56p at 4,133p, and CRH, up 61p at 4,508p.
The biggest fallers on the index were Endeavour Mining, down 46p at 1,625p, Fresnillo, down 12p at 549.4p, IAG, down 2.5p at 157.9p, Prudential, down 13.8p at 946.8p, and Johnson Matthey, down 21p at 1,543p.