(Reuters) -Britain’s FTSE 100 held steady on Friday, taking a breather after closing at record highs, as global investors turned their attention to Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s speech for insights into the future path of U.S. interest rates.
As of 1042 GMT, the blue-chip index was little changed and on pace to close the week up nearly 2%.
The FTSE 100 had scaled record closing levels in three consecutive sessions, helped by a market rotation away from technology stocks that triggered a selloff on Wall Street earlier this week.
Meanwhile, the midcap index FTSE 250 rose 0.3% and looked set to end the week with a modest 0.7% gain.
Global markets’ attention now centres on the Jackson Hole symposium, where investors hope Powell will signal a September rate cut following recent U.S. labor market weakness.
Banking stocks in London led FTSE 100 gains, rising 0.5%, with Standard Chartered jumping 3% following a favourable U.S. Department of Justice ruling in a long-standing civil case.
The bank’s shares tumbled last week when a U.S. Republican lawmaker called for a probe, claiming that it was involved in sanctions evasion.
The energy sector was up 0.3% as oil prices stabilized amid fading hopes for a Russia-Ukraine peace agreement. [O/R]
A survey on Friday showed British consumers have turned a bit more confident this month after the latest interest rate cut by the Bank of England but are vulnerable to worries about rising inflation and potential tax increases.
Retailer names like Tesco, J Sainsbury and Unilever marginally dropped. The consumer stocks index also fell 0.3%. Despite this daily setback, consumer shares have demonstrated strength this week, rising nearly 3%.
(Reporting by Ragini Mathur in Bengaluru; Editing by Leroy Leo)
