On Friday, London’s FTSE 100 briefly printed a new intraday record before paring gains, leaving the index on track to end the week higher.
The move capped a week in which upside surprises in UK GDP and easing US inflation reinforced the ‘soft-landing’ narrative and buoyed risk appetite.
Sector performance was mixed: defence names traded lower into a high-level US-Russia summit that investors speculated could alter the geopolitical risk premium, while miners advanced on hopes for additional stimulus in China.
The mid-cap FTSE 250 outperformed intraday but remained on course for a weekly decline, reflecting the more challenging domestic demand backdrop.
For UK retail investors and ISA savers, the fresh high continues to highlight dispersion across sectors and the benefit of international revenue exposure prevalent in the FTSE 100.
Strategists cautioned that volatility may increase into upcoming data on inflation and the labour market, and that the Bank of England’s path after its August cut will remain a key driver.
Still, with earnings season delivering more beats than misses and global central banks inching toward looser policy, the technical picture for UK blue chips remains constructive into late summer.
2025-08-20 18:39:32
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2025-08-20 18:39:32
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2025-08-20 18:39:32
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2025-08-20 18:39:32
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