FTSE 100 Advances For 3rd Straight Session

(RTTNews) - The U.K. stock market was up in positive territory about an hour past noon on Friday, gaining for a third straight session. Investors, digesting the retail sales data, are also awaiting the crucial U.S. jobs data due later in the day.

The benchmark FTSE 100 was up 25.03 points or 0.27% at 9,241.90 nearly an hour past noon.

Entain gained 2.7%. Melrose Industries was up 2.25%, while HSBC Holdings and Ashtead Group were gaining 2.1% and 2%, respectively.

Rio Tinto, Standard Chartered, Aviva, Rentokil Initial, IMI, Spirax Group, Experian, Croda International, Intertek Group, Polar Capital Technology Trust, Pershing Square Holdings, Scottish Mortgage and BAE Systems were also notably higher.

British housebuilder Berkeley Group was up 1% after reporting "stable" trading over the first four months of its financial year and maintaining its earnings guidance.

Tullow Oil soared 11.5% after naming oil and gas industry veteran Ian Perks as its new CEO.

Admiral Group was down 3.7%. JD Sports Fashion was down by about 1.5%, while Natwest Group and Associated British Foods were down 1.3% and 1.1%, respectively.

Pearson, Unilever, Compass Group, Barclays, Diageo, ICG, Marks & Spencer and DCC were also weak.

In economic news, data from the Office for National Statistics showed UK retail sales logged a faster growth in July on good weather and the women's Euro football tournament.

Retail sales posted a monthly expansion of 0.6% in July, following an increase of 0.3% in June. Sales growth was expected to remain at 0.3%.

Non-store retailers and clothing stores sales increased strongly in July, which retailers attributed to new products, good weather, and an increase resulting from the UEFA Women's EURO 2025 tournament.

However, in the three months to July, sales volumes fell 0.6% compared with the same period last year.

Year-on-year, retail sales grew 1.1% in July following a 0.9% rise in June. Excluding auto fuel, retail sales growth held steady at 1.3%.

U.K. house prices rose for the third consecutive month on the back of falling mortgage rates and continued wage growth, according to the Halifax house price index data. The value of a typical home rose 0.3% in August when compared to July.