Risk-on mood pushes the FTSE 0.74% higher

A quick look at yesterday: with a daily low of 7,557, FTSE closed yesterday at 7,627.2, after ending Thursday at 7,571 and gaining 56.2 points (0.74%).

This move comes while some more positive signs for the FTSE are out as United Kingdom Retail Sales improved upon its previous reading of -1.2% with a new data release of 0.5%.

Meanwhile, United Kingdom CFTC GBP speculative net positions released yesterday at 20:30 UTC with a figure of 11,600, while the previous figure was 12,600. Data for United Kingdom Core Retail Sales published yesterday at 06:00 UTC came out at 0.8%, beating projections of 0.3% and showing improvement over the preceding figure of -1.4%.

Other markets are also showing gains as Nasdaq increases 2.19% yesterday and closed at 12,700. S&P 500 is trading around 4,205.45 after ending yesterday's session at 4,151.28 (up 1.3% today).

At the same time, Hang Seng lost 1.93% yesterday and closed at 19,100.

The index has been trending lower for about a month. The FTSE has fallen back around 5.51% from the significant high of 8,012.53 set 3 months ago.