- Summary
- Companies
- 888 Holdings hit by revenue drop
- WPP rise after Publicis reports strong results
- FTSE 100 up 0.9%, FTSE 250 adds 1.0%
Oct 18 (Reuters) - UK's main equity indexes hit their strongest levels in more than a week on Tuesday, boosted by the historic reversal of the government's unfunded tax cut plans and optimism over the earnings season that boosted U.S. stocks overnight.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 (.FTSE) gained 0.9% to hit its highest since Oct. 10 and the domestically focussed FTSE 250 (.FTMC) rose 1.0% to a level not seen since Oct. 5.
U.S. stock indexes closed sharply higher on Monday after Bank of America Corp (BAC.N) posted solid results, dialling up hopes about a strong earnings season.
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Britain's new finance minister, Jeremy Hunt, on Monday scrapped Prime Minister Liz Truss's economic plan and scaled back her vast energy support scheme, making a historic policy U-turn to try to stem a dramatic loss of investor confidence. read more
"The UK government has essentially shifted policy initiatives back to the Bank of England and removed the perception that the two were at odds with each other," said Sean Darby, global equities strategist at Jefferies.
"At the end of the day, the UK government blinked, while the BoE has seen its credibility restored," said Darby, adding that there is room for a sizeable change in sentiment towards domestically exposed FTSE 250 which had been battered recently.
Investors earlier took comfort from a report that the Bank of England was likely to further delay the Oct. 31 start of its sales of billions of pounds of government bonds to help stabilise the bond markets. read more
The BoE later said the report was inaccurate. read more
Among single stocks, Moneysupermarket.com (MONY.L) jumped 6.1% after the insurance-price comparison website said it expected annual core profit to be at the upper end of market views. read more
Ad firm WPP (WPP.L) rose 4.2% after French rival Publicis Groupe (PUBP.PA) raised its full-year forecast for the second time this year. read more
888 Holdings Plc (888.L) dropped 4.3% after the bookmaker reported a drop in third-quarter revenue, hit by tighter safety measures for online players in the UK and closure of its Dutch operations. read more
Bellway Plc (BWY.L) slipped 0.7% as the homebuilder warned of moderating demand, pressured by rising mortgage rates. read more
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