FTSE 100 Rises As Services PMI Improves
(RTTNews) - U.K. stocks rose on Friday after a closely watched survey showed the British economy is "pulling further out of last year's shallow recession" as the dominant services sector grew at its fastest pace in nearly a year.
The S&P Global UK Services PMI - considered a key measure of activity - rose in April to 55.0, its highest level since May 2023 and marking a sixth consecutive month of growth. That was up from a preliminary reading of 54.9 and higher than March's 53.1.
The benchmark FTSE 100 was up 30 points, or 0.4 percent, at 8,202 after gaining 0.6 percent the previous day on the back of strong earnings.
Anglo American jumped more than 3 percent after reports that commodities group Glencore was considering a rival bid for the mining giant.
Trainline, which runs a digital platform for buying rail and bus tickets, soared 8 percent after annual earnings rose and the company announced it would start buying back more shares over the course of 12 months.
Publishing company Future rallied 2.7 percent after appointing Sharjeel Suleman as its CFO.