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FTSE Up Marginally In Cautious Trade; Phoenix Group Rises On Results
(RTTNews) - The U.K. market is up marginally Monday morning with investors largely making cautious moves ahead of crucial central bank meetings and political events.
The Bank of England, the Federal Reserve and the Bank of Japan are scheduled to make their monetary policy announcements this week. In Germany, a vote on a crucial spending plan is taking place on Tuesday. Ukraine peace talks are also on the agenda this week.
The benchmark FTSE 100 is up 13.37 points or 0.15% at 8,645.70.
Phoenix Group Holdings shares are rising nearly 7%. The British insurer reported a better-than-expected rise in full-year adjusted operating profit and total cash. The group said IFRS adjusted operating profit increased 31% to 825 million pounds in 2024.
The Group said that it is now targeting approximately 1.1 billion pounds of IFRS adjusted operating profit in 2026, increased from a previous target of 900 million pounds. The Board recommended a 2.6% increase in the final 2024 dividend to 27.35 pence per share.
IAG, JD Sports Fashion, Rio Tinto, Beazley, Shell, Antofagasta, Mondi, Natwest Group, Smith & Nephew, Aviva and Coca-Cola HBC are up 1 to 2%.
Tesco is down by about 2.5%. Marks & Spencer is declining 2.1%. AstraZeneca is down more than 1% after it agreed to acquire Belgian biotechnology firm EsoBiotec for up to $1 billion.
Intermediate Capital Group, Games Workshop, Melrose Industries, Halma and Sainsbury (J) are down 1 to 1.7%.
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