U.K. economy grew in last three months, London opens higher

Investing.com - U.K. equities started with gains on Friday, with rises in majority of sectors, the notable ones being the Oil & Gas, Banks, Electronic & Electrical Equipment and Support Services sectors.

At the market open in London, the FTSE 100 Index rose 0.40%. The FTSE 250 Index and the FTSE 350 Index also increased. The FTSE 250 climbed 0.07%, while the FTSE 350 increased by 0.58%.

Top Gainers:

• Intertek Group PLC (LON:ITRK): Rose 2.17% or 102.8 points to 4,850.8
• NatWest (LON:NWG) Group: Climbed 2.04% or 6.40 points to 320.10
• 3I Group (LON:III): Increased 2.03% or 61.00 points to 3,060.00

Top Losers:

• JD Sports Fashion PLC (LON:JD): Dropped 5.18% or 6.55 points to 119.79
• DS Smith PLC (LON:SMDS): Declined 1.37% or 5.86 points to 420.34
• Frasers Group PLC (LON:FRAS): Fell 1.30% or 11.50 points to 870.50

In Commodities Trading:

• Gold Futures for August delivery climbed 0.95 points to 2,337.55 a troy ounce.
• Crude Oil for August delivery added 0.64 points to 82.38 a barrel.
• September Brent Oil Contract calm with 0.67% or 0.57 increase to 85.83 a barrel.

Currency Markets:

• GBP/USD remained unchanged at 1.26.
• EUR/GBP is also stable at 0.84.
• The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.10% at 105.680

Main Economic Events:

UK GDP numbers were slightly better than expected. Q1 GDP growth read 0.7%.

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