The FTSE 100 remained steady on Thursday, with its recovery from April’s turbulence continuing as stocks were climbing in the US.
The index managed to claw back losses from earlier in the day to gain 1.95 points, or 0.02%, to close at 8,496.8.
A mixture of stocks were making gains, including housebuilders and financial services firms, while Marks & Spencer was dragging on the index.
The retailer is continuing to recover from a cyber security attack last week, which has forced it to pause online orders and stop hiring, as it works to resolve problems in its systems.
The FTSE 100 has been on a winning streak with two weeks in a row of gains – its longest run in eight years.
It was teetering on the edge of ending this streak with a downturn during the day, but was given a late lift as stock markets opened higher in the US.
In New York, the S&P 500 was climbing about 1.3%, and Dow Jones was 0.8% higher by the time European markets closed.
Other European markets were closed on Thursday for the May Day bank holiday.
The pound was weakening against the US dollar, down 0.5% against the currency at 1.3267. Sterling was up about 0.05% against the euro, at 1.1772.
The price of Brent crude oil was up about 0.4% to 61 US dollars per barrel.
In other company news, Rolls-Royce told shareholders it has had a “strong start” to the year and expects to mitigate the impact of US tariffs.
The engineering giant said it was on track to deliver between £2.7 billion and £2.9 billion of underlying operating profit for 2025.
It also said it was closely monitoring the impact of inflation and a wider economic slowdown on demand for its products. Shares in Rolls-Royce rose 1.7%.
Elsewhere, Lloyds Banking Group reported a fall in profits for the first quarter of the year, compared with 2024, as it set aside more money for bad debts
The banking group disclosed £309 million of impairment charges, up from £57 million a year ago, including £100 million for potential borrower defaults. Shares in the bank were 2.7% lower at close.
The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were St James’s Place, up 63.8p to 1,003p, Whitbread, up 150p to 2,743p, Polar Capital Technology Trust, up 12.5p to 301p, Informa, up 30.8p to 758.6p, and easyJet, up 20p to 514.6p.
The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were Lloyds, down 1.94p to 71.34p, AB Foods, down 48p to 2,016p, London Stock Exchange, down 265p to 11,360p, Marks & Spencer, down 8.3p to 380.7p, and Pearson, down 22p to 1,174.5p.
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