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UPDATE 2-FTSE defies Friday the 13th gloom with rebound amid virus fears

Published 03/14/2020, 12:59 AM
© Reuters.  UPDATE 2-FTSE defies Friday the 13th gloom with rebound amid virus fears
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* FTSE 100 advance 1.7%, FTSE 250 down 1.2%
* Miners, supermarket chains lead gains on main index
* Premier Oil soars on capex cut plans

(Adds stock close)
By Shivani Kumaresan and Noor Zainab Hussain
March 13 (Reuters) - London stocks rose on Friday as moves
by policymakers to limit the economic hit from the coronavirus
pandemic fuelled a rebound, a day after the worst selloff of the
blue chip index since the 1987 "Black Monday" crash.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 .FTSE rose 1.7%, but posted its
worst week since the global financial crisis in 2008.
Helping the slight move upwards on Friday were miners and
supermarket chains.
"Having suffered its worst day of trading in more than 30
years the FTSE 100 at least started Friday 13th in positive
territory,” said AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould.
Global equities were hammered on Thursday after U.S.
President Donald Trump shocked investors with a move to restrict
travel from Europe, and an ECB decision to hold off on interest
rate cuts added to panic about a liquidity crunch.
A rebound on Wall Street on Friday fizzled out after reports
that President Donald Trump was set to declare a national
emergency to tackle the rapidly spreading coronavirus outbreak.
Emergency actions including the Bank of England's 50 basis
point interest rate cut and the UK government's 30-billion-pound
($39 billion) stimulus plan have failed to reassure investors
about economic growth. Traders are now hoping that U.S. lawmakers and the White
House will agree on a stimulus package, expected to be announced
on Friday. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has postponed May's
local and mayoral elections in England for a year due to the
coronavirus outbreak, the BBC said on Friday. Travel stocks continued to be the worst hit, with Carnival
Corp CCL.L tumbling almost 10% to its lowest level since 2009
after its unit, Princess Cruises, said it would suspend the
voyages of all its 18 ships for two months. Carnival ended the session at the bottom of London's blue
chip index, followed by travel firm TUI TUIT.L . "The day was definitely still unlucky for some, cruise
operator Carnival was one of the few large cap fallers as
investors reacted to the UK Government advice for over 70s and
people with underlying health conditions not to take cruises,"
Mould said.
Online supermarket Ocado OCDO.L ended the week 5.4%
higher, the only weekly gainer among FTSE blue chips.
The domestically focused FTSE mid-cap index .FTMC was down
just 1.2%, capping its worst week since 1987's "Black Monday".
Cinema operator Cineworld CINE.L sank 32.4% to the bottom
of the mid-cap index amid continued concerns over the impact of
the coronavirus pandemic on its business.
Oil producer Premier Oil PMO.L surged 26%, after eyeing at
least $100 million in potential savings on its annual capital
spending plans to adjust to the plunge in global crude price.
O/R
Miners Rio Tinto RIO.L , BHP group BHP.L and Anglo
American AAL.L jumped more than 7% and were the top gainers on
the main index.


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