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London's FTSE 100 rounded off a largely positive week with a sizeable gain on Friday, amid more hope of a roll-back of bruising zero-Covid measures in China, lifting shares in miners, Prudential and HSBC.
The latter was also in focus after a major shareholder pushed for a break-up. Elsewhere in London, shares in carbon and ceramic materials manufacturer Morgan Advanced and furniture company DFS ended higher, on positive trading updates.
The Fed was in focus once again after the release of a hotter-than-expected US jobs report. The chunkier than expected reading may strengthen the case for another sharp Fed interest rate hike.
The FTSE 100 index jumped 146.21 points, 2.0%, at 7,334.84. For the week, it added 4.1%.
The FTSE 250 shot up 231.96 points, 1.3%, at 18,341.57, while the AIM All-Share added 5.18 points, 0.6%, at 815.05. Over the course of the week, the FTSE 250 climbed 2.4% and the AIM All-Share rose 1.2%.
The Cboe UK 100 closed up 2.4% at 735.66, the Cboe UK 250 ended 1.9% higher at 15,812.85, and the Cboe Small Companies ended up 0.8% at 12,456.53.
In European equities on Friday, the CAC 40 in Paris surged 2.8%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt jumped 2.5%.
It was a less convincing day for New York equities so far, however. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.2% at the time of the London close. The S&P 500 was up 0.4%, while the Nasdaq Composite was 0.3% higher.
Recent reports have suggested that lockdown measures may be ease in China. Bloomberg reported that travel restrictions may be eased, including reducing quarantine times.
"The Hang Seng index recorded its biggest weekly gain in 11 years, rising 8.7% to 16,161. A good chunk of those gains came on Friday, as stocks jumped in anticipation that the Chinese government would relax its zero-Covid policy from March next year. Prior to this week's rally, Asian stocks had struggled this year amid fears about a sharp slowdown in economic growth partially caused by stringent Covid lockdown rules in China," AJ Bell analyst Russ Mould commented.
China-exposed stocks were among the best performers in London.
Asia-focused insurer Prudential added 9.6%, and miners Rio Tinto and Anglo American surged 7.8% and 12%, respectively. China is among the world's largest mineral importers, so a revival of its economy would be good news for diversified miners.
Luxury retail firms Burberry and LVMH, rose 5.2% and 5.1% in London and Paris, respectively. China is a key market for luxury goods.
Lender HSBC, also boosted by China hopes, rose 1.8%. Shares were on the up despite major investor Ping An Insurance publicly calling for a break-up.
"As one of the major shareholders of HSBC, what Ping An cares the most is for HSBC to improve its business performance, create and enhance its long-term value. We have always upheld a candid and open attitude and keen to listen to all voices in the market. We will support any initiatives including a spin-off that are conducive to improve HSBC‘