BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - U.K. stocks eked out modest gains on Friday even as coronavirus cases surged in the U.S. and record spikes of infections in Hong Kong and Tokyo fueled fears of a second wave hitting Asia.
The benchmark FTSE 100 was up 22 points, or 0.37 percent, at 6,072 after tumbling 1.7 percent on Thursday.
Great Portland Estates was marginally lower. In its first-quarter trading update, the property development and investment company said it collected 69 percent of June rent to date including amounts covered by rent deposits.
Senior Plc shares fell 1.5 percent. The engineering firm said it expects group revenue in first half of 2020 to be around 30 percent lower than H1 2019 and consequently, margins to be significantly lower.
International Personal Finance soared nearly 15 percent. The home credit and digital loans provider said it expects to progressively accelerate credit issued in the coming months with lending remaining focused on its customers.
Trafalgar Property Group jumped as much as 45 percent after entrepreneur Chris Akers, with a stake of 6.15 percent, was revealed as a substantial shareholder.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
© 2020 AFX News