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Rightmove bottoms FTSE 100 on dour forecast
Pearson gains after rise in annual operating profit
FTSE 100 up 0.7%, FTSE 250 adds 0.6%
Updated at 0916 GMT
By Shristi Achar A
March 1 (Reuters) –UK equities moved higheron Friday, mirroring gains across global markets, as investors cheered signs of slowing inflation in the United States, while shares of broadcaster ITV topped the mid-cap index on BritBox International stake sale to BBC.
The internationally focussed FTSE 100 .FTSE index was up 0.7%, as of 0916 GMT.
Global markets tracked a rally on Wall Street after the U.S. personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index datashowed that theannual increase in inflation was the smallest in three years, raising hopes of a rate cut from the Federal Reserve in the first half of the year. MKTS/GLOB .N
The rate-sensitive real estate investment trusts index .FTNMX351020 climbed 1.7%, while telecommunications .FTNMX151020 led sectoral advances with a 1.9% jump.
“There’s a buoyancy linked to the fact that the interest rate cycle may not be going back down fast, but it’s certainly not going up again either,” said Wes McCoy, UK equity fund manager at Abrdn.
Among stocks, Pearson PSON.L advanced 4.8% to be among the topperformers in the FTSE 100 after the education company met market expectations for 2023 operating profit, which rose 31% on an underlying basis.
The more domestically oriented FTSE 250 .FTMC gained 0.6%, led by a 14.3% rise in ITV ITV.L after the broadcaster sold its entire 50% stake in streaming service BritBox International to its joint venture partner BBC Studios for 255 million pounds ($322.09 million).
Rightmove RMV.L bucked the broader trend to move 4.4% lower after the property portal said it expected its customer numbers to fall in 2024 due to macroeconomic uncertainties.
British investors’ focus will now shift to Finance Minister Jeremy Hunt’s pre-election budget due next week, where he is expected to cut taxes in the face of a 2.5-trillion-pound debt.
Meanwhile,British house prices in February rose in annual terms for the first time in more than a year, according to mortgage lender Nationwide Building Society, the latest sign of a recovery in the housing market after a dip in mortgage costs.
Reporting by Shristi Achar A in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Sohini Goswami
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