FTSE 100 rises again after bleak Black Friday
London’s FTSE 100 has risen up slightly this morning after shedding 3.31 per cent on Friday amid the new coronavirus variant scares.
The market movements come as the World Health Organisation and Coronavirus experts around the world called this morning for countries to drop travel restrictions and end mass hysteria – and instead be cautiously optimistic as initial reports out of South Africa suggest the new Omicron variant is not more lethal than the previous Delta variant.
The blue-chip index gained 1.1 per cent in morning trade to 7,126.66 points, led by BT.
The telecoms group saw shares surge 5.3 per cent after the Economic Times reported Indian oil-to-telecoms conglomerate Reliance Industries was considering an offer to buy BT.
International Consolidated Airlines Group shares lifted off morning trading up 3.4 per cent while shares in pharmaceutical AstraZeneca fell by 0.9 per cent.
The FTSE 250 was also up 1.3 per cent as the markets shook off some of the anxiety set off by reports around the highly transmissible new variant.
Retailer WH Smith was up 6.3 per cent, while AO World saw its shares drop 1.9 per cent.