The UK market is rising moderately in afternoon trading Friday, led by banks and miners. A slew of economic reports and firm cues from Japan and Australia influenced sentiment.
Crude for October delivery is trading down $0.54 at $74.48 per barrel and December gold is rising $0.5 at $1253.9 an ounce.
In economic news, UK's service sector continued to expand for the sixteenth successive month in August, but the rate of growth eased from July, a survey by Markit Economics revealed. The headline seasonally adjusted business activity index came in at 51.3 in August, down from 53.1 in July.
Further, final data from Markit Economics showed that German service sector grew at the fastest pace in three years in August, though the pace of expansion was slower than initially estimated. The final Services Business Activity Index showed a reading of 57.2, down from 58.5 estimated in the flash report. In July, the PMI was at 56.5.
Eurozone service sector activity rose to a three-month high in August, led by strong growth in Germany and France. Markit Economics said the service sector purchasing managers' index rose to a seasonally adjusted 55.9 from 55.8 in July, and also higher than the preliminary reading of 55.6.
Meanwhile, French service sector activity dropped to a four month low in August, a final report from Markit Economics showed. The purchasing managers index for services decreased to 60.4 in August from 61.1 in the previous month. The flash reading for August was 59.9.
The FTSE 100 opened at 5,371 and moved sideways in early trade, but has been rising steadily since. The index is currently gaining 0.42%.
Utility Aggreko is rising 5.01% and defense company BAE Systems is adding 3.54%. Software firm Autonomy is gaining 3.43%. Aggreko and Autonomy are reported to be acquisition targets.
Miners Anglo American, BHP Billiton, Kazakhmys, Xstrata and Rio Tinto are advancing between 1.1% and 0.4%. However, Vedanta Resources is sliding 1.5% and Antofagasta is contracting 0.5%.
Among lenders, Barclays is rising 2.08% and Standard Chartered is moving up 1.2%. HSBC Holdings is up 0.5%. However, Royal Bank of Scotland is declining 0.4%.
The decliners are being led by Tullow Oil, which is down 1.6%. Home Retail is dropping 1.12%.
Elsewhere in Europe, the German DAX is adding 0.27% and the French CAC 40 is rising 0.49%.
Across Asia/Pacific, major markets had a mixed outing. Australia's All Ordinaries ended up 0.32% and Japan's Nikkei 225 gained 0.57%. However, China's Shanghai Composite Index slipped 0.01% and India's BSE Sensex retreated 0.09%.
In the U.S., futures indicate a mixed open on Wall Street. While the Dow futures and the Nasdaq 100 futures are marginally up, the S&P 500 futures is slightly down. In the previous session, the Dow gained 0.5%, the Nasdaq advanced 1.1% and the S&P 500 rose 0.9%.
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June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.