Market round-up: FTSE 100 rises with Lloyds the top performer as sterling falls

The FTSE 100 edged towards the 7,000 mark once more on 1 May after investors found renewed confidence after the value of the pound dropped, with the FTSE finishing the day on 6,985.95 – up by more than 25 points.

Lloyds was the day's strongest performer after it made a pre-tax profit before one-off items of £2.2bn ($3.4bn, €3bn) after it improved its margin and reduced losses for bad debts. It share value finished on 82.87 – up by more than 7%.

Connor Campbell, an analyst at Spreadex, wrote on his blog: "The pound's woes were the FTSE's gains as the UK index made back Thursday's losses as it slowly crawled towards 7,000 once more.

"The unequivocal winner this Friday was Lloyds, which saw no slowdown in its growth as the day continued, widening its gains to over 7% as investors cheered the news that the bank would pay out a dividend for the first time since before the financial crisis."

FTSE 100 biggest risers

Lloyds Banking Group +5.49 (+7.09%) 82.87
Anglo American +60.00 (+5.43%) 1,165.00
Rio Tinto +112.00 (+3.88%) 2,997.00
BHP Billiton +46.50 (+2.98) 1,607.50
Admiral Group +38.00 (+2.44%) 1,596.00

FTSE 100 biggest fallers

Aberdeen Asset Management -12.00 (-2.53%) 463.10
Hargreaves Lansdown -31.00 (-2.52%) 1,199.00
Severn Trent -41.00 (-1.93%) 2,084.00
Tui AG -23.00 (-1.88%) 1,200.00
3I Group -8.60 (-1.70%) 497.90