(RTTNews) - The U.K. market is rising in afternoon trading Friday, buoyed by gains in the U.S. in the previous session. Positive economic data from China, Australia and Japan also weighed on sentiment. Crude for July delivery is trading lower by $0.26 per barrel at $75.22 and gold is up $0.9 an ounce at $1223.1.
In the U.K., the Office for National Statistics said output prices rose 5.7% on an annual basis in May, compared with a revised increase of 5.9% in April. Economists were expecting the annual rate to ease to 5.8%. Meanwhile, manufacturing production dropped 0.4% month-on-month in April, in contrast to a 0.5% rise expected by economists. In March, manufacturing output rose by a revised 2.2%.
In Germany, wholesale price inflation in May accelerated to the highest level since August 2008, driven by strong prices of metal and related products. The wholesale price index rose 6.2% year-on-year in May, faster than the 6% increase recorded in April.
French consumer prices edged up 0.1% month-on-month in May, following a 0.3% rise in April, the statistical office Insee said. The expected increase for May was 0.2%.
The FTSE 100 opened at 5,133. Despite some volatile trading in the early session, the index is rising 0.65%.
Diversified utility Aggreko is leading the fallers by declining 1.76%. Among banking stocks, Standard Chartered is declining 1.72% and Lloyds Banking Group is losing 1.64%. Royal Bank of Scotland is dropping 1.27%. However, Barclays is adding 0.78%.
Miners are seeing moderate rise with BHP Billiton adding 0.87% and Kazakhmys rising 0.61%. Eurasian Natural Resources is gaining 0.58%. However, Antofagasta and Rio Tinto are declining 1.14% and 0.32%, respectively.
The winners are being led by oil giant BP, which is up 7.56%. The Wall Street Journal reported that the company might cut or postpone its second-quarter dividend. Tullow Oil is up 1.87% and Royal Dutch Shell is gaining 1.2%.
Retailer Home Retail as well as travel services providers TUI Travel and Thomas Cook are seeing notable upside.
Across Asia/Pacific, all the major markets ended in positive territory. Australia's All Ordinaries added 1.53% and China's Shanghai Composite added 0.29%. India's BSE Sensex gained 0.84% and Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 1.70%.
In the U.S., futures point to a slightly higher opening on Wall Street . In the previous session, the Dow surged up 2.8%, the Nasdaq jumped 2.8% and the S&P 500 rose 3%.
