London markets edged up as investors hoped the G-20 summit would see the easing of trade tensions.
How did markets perform?
The U.K.’s FTSE 100 UKX, +0.22% was up 0.3%, at 7,423.8, following Thursday’s decline of 0.2%.
The pound GBPUSD, +0.2604% was flat at $1.2674, after also closing flat on Thursday.
Oil prices recovered after slumping early Friday. The West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil benchmark CL.1, -0.08% was flat at $59.45/bbl., while Brent crude BRN.1, -0.02% was up 0.1% to $66.63/bbl.
What’s moving the markets?
The G-20 summit in Osaka, Japan kicked off with Reuters reporting that the session’s first working lunch highlighted stark differences in positions among several world powers. While a Japanese official told reporters that the countries agreed that the group needed to drive global growth, a Russian official present described work on the final communiqué as “not easy” amid dissension over issues from climate change to information security.
Describing his expectations for talks at the summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping about the continuing trade dispute, U.S. President Donald Trump said: “At a minimum it will be productive.”
The Times divulged Conservative Party leadership candidate Boris Johnson’s plan for an emergency budget to prepare the U.K. for a possible no-deal Brexit, intended to have the economy “going gangbusters” by the time the country left. The result of the leadership contest is expected on July 22.
The U.K. Office of National Statistics confirmed that the country’s economy grew 1.8% in the first quarter compared with the same period a year ago, unrevised from the earlier estimated figure. The office said the rise was consistent with stockpiling ahead of the aborted March 29 Brexit deadline, and noted that household consumption was higher.
Which stocks are active?
Kirkibi Invest, the private company that owns toy maker Lego A/S, has teamed up with the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and U.S. private equity company Blackstone Group LP BX, +0.74% to purchase Merlin Entertainments PLC MERL, +13.72% the second biggest visitor-attraction operator in the world, for £4.8 billion. Merlin’s businesses include a series of Legoland theme parks as well as London icons including Madame Tussaud’s and the Coca-Cola London Eye. Merlin shares jumped 14%.
Despite moving back higher, the briefly falling oil price boosted airlines including International Consolidated Airlines Group SA IAG, +4.75% whose shares were up 3.4% in the session and EasyJet PLC EZJ, +4.20% which rose 1.9%.