FTSE 100 Rises On Rate Cut Hopes; Vodafone Group Moves Up Sharply
(RTTNews) - U.K.'s FTSE 100 index has moved up sharply on Tuesday, amid hopes of a rate cut by the Bank of England next month after data showed an increase in the nation's unemployment rate in the third quarter. The passage of a short-term funding bill late Monday to end the longest government shutdown in U.S. history is also aiding sentiment.
The FTSE 100 was up 74.75 points or 0.76% at 9,861.90 about half an hour past noon.
Vodafone Group is up 5.3% as the broadband and mobile operator announced the repurchase of 6,514,459 shares from Goldman Sachs as part of efforts to enhance shareholder value.
WPP is climbing up 4.5%. Haleon, British American Tobacco, Lloyds Banking Group, Informa and Berkeley Group Holdings are gaining 2 to 2.25%.
Barratt Redrow, Barclays Group, BT Group, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, Pearson, GSK, RightMove, Natwest Group, AstraZeneca and Imperial Brands are also notably higher.
Shares of scientific tools maker Oxford Instruments are soaring 12.5% after order momentum returned in the second quarter.
Tesco, Marks & Spencer, Croda International, Auto Trader Group, 3i Group and Sainsbury (J) are down 2 to 3.1%.
Data from the Office for National Statistics showed the UK unemployment rate increased in the third quarter. The ILO jobless rate rose to 5% in the three months to September, which was above the economists' forecast of 4.9%. The unemployment rate was 4.8% in the three months to August.
Data showed that average earnings including bonuses grew 4.8 percent from the previous year, which was slower than the expected growth of 5%.
Australian Market Slightly Trims Early Gains In Mid-market
Asian Markets Trade Mostly Higher
Indian Shares Seen Flat To Higher At Open
Continued Consolidation Called For Thai Stock Market
Lower Open Expected For Indonesia Bourse
Japanese Market Modestly Lower
Hang Seng May Extend Tuesday's Losses
