By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- EasyJet PLC shares cruised higher Friday
after the air carrier raised a profit forecast, helping the
benchmark FTSE 100 come off a 10-month low.
The FTSE 100 climbed 1.3% to 6,527.91, extending gains after
U.S. jobs data for September came in stronger than expected.
EasyJet shares topped the benchmark, rising 6.4% as the budget
airline said a pilot strike at rival Air France should help boost
its pretax profit for the year to Sept. 30 by 5 million pounds
($8.07 million).
Earnings should now come in at GBP575 million to GBP580 million,
the company said. EasyJet had previously expected earnings of
GBP545 million to GBP570 million.
The FTSE 100 on Thursday slid 1.7% to its lowest closing level
since December 2013. Other European markets also sold off as
investors expressed dissatisfaction at the European Central Bank's
efforts to stave off low inflation and stagnating growth in the
eurozone.
Tesco PLC shares sat near the bottom of the British benchmark
Friday as they fell 3.4%. Earlier this week, the U.K. Financial
Conduct Authority began investigating the supermarket chain's
recent overstatement of its first-year profit forecast by 250
million pounds ($405 million).
"I made a mistake on that," Berkshire Hathaway chief Warren
Buffett said Thursday on CNBC about his company's investment in
Tesco. "That was a huge mistake I made."
Meanwhile, the pound (GBPUSD) remained under pressure after Bank
of England Deputy Governor Ben Broadbent said the U.K. is "not
ready yet" for an increase in interest rates. The pound dropped to
$1.5967 from around $1.6187 late Thursday.
Broadbent made the comment in an interview with ITV, broadcast
on Thursday. Businesses and households should, however, prepare for
higher rates, he said.
The BOE is poised to begin raising interest rates during the
first quarter of 2015, economists at Goldman Sachs said on Friday.
That timetable would mean the BOE would start hiking rates earlier
than the U.S. Federal Reserve, which is seen as likely to start
rate increases in the third quarter of 2015.
For the week, the FTSE 100 fell 1.8%, its second weekly loss in
a row.
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