London stocks climbed higher on Thursday after new data showed France and Germany have emerged from recession and the 16-nation eurozone economy shrank by less than expected in the second quarter.
The FTSE 100 index of leading shares rose 0.82 percent to 4,755.46 points.
Lloyds Banking Group (LBG) was the most widely traded stock, seeing 105 million units change hands, followed by Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), which saw 102 million shares switch owners.
British insurer Prudential was the top gainer, up 51.2 pence -- or 10.7 percent -- to end at 529.5, followed by oil facilities provider Petrofac, which added 74.5 pence -- or 8.92 percent -- to stand at 910.
The casualties of the day were travel giant Thomas Cook, which slipped 11 pence -- or 4.78 percent -- to finish at 219, and business information company Thompson Reuters, which shed 35 pence -- or 2.57 percent -- to end at 1,933.
Elsewhere, the pound gained against the dollar but was practically flat against the euro.
Sterling was worth 1.6585 US dollars at 15:58 BST, up from from 1.6480 at Wednesday's close, while it inched up to 1.1615 euros from 1.1614 over the same period.
No comments:
Post a Comment